


Bad Moon Rising

by ToriVallen_SPNHunter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Addiction, Angst, Bobby Singer's House, Brother-Sister Relationships, Daughter of Athena, F/M, Female Hunters, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Mental Health Issues, My First Fanfic, No Incest, Original Character(s), POV Bobby Singer, POV Dean Winchester, POV Multiple, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, POV Sam Winchester, Prophetic Visions, Protective Dean Winchester, Rides in the Impala, Romance, Sam Winchester Fluff, Singing, Supernatural Elements, Working a case with Sam and Dean, singing in the impala, sleeping with Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-10 16:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 76,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10441656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToriVallen_SPNHunter/pseuds/ToriVallen_SPNHunter
Summary: Victoria Vallen is a hunter just like Sam and Dean Winchester. She travels with her two brothers, Ian and West, chasing cases and lending a hand to Sam and Dean whenever they need it. When Ian receives a message from his and his siblings dead mother, Victoria learns about a side of herself, she, her brothers and the Winchester's never thought possible. Follow along with Victoria as she flexes her abilities, fights the supernatural, falls in love and sacrifices for the handful of people she calls family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic starts in the middle of season 2 of Supernatural and follows some episodes closely and keeps with the shows general timeline throughout the seasons. Some chapters have multiple POV narrations, Tori being the main and most frequent narrator, followed by Sam, Dean, Ian, West and Bobby. 
> 
> Please hold out for the first few chapters as I found it necessary to take time introducing Tori and her brothers before bringing Sam and Dean into the scene. They will appear and have large contributions to the storyline, I promise! :)
> 
> This is my fist fanFiction ever and I'm open to constructive criticism and would love to hear what you think!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Sleeping in a car was something I have never been able to do. It never mattered how tired I was or how long I had been sitting in the car for or how smooth the road was. However, this meant that I got to drive the car at night when my brothers, West and Ian, wanted to get some shuteye. We spent a lot of time on the road going from town to town and I enjoyed the quiet time to myself as my brothers slept. A downside to driving most of the night was that my sleep schedule was so incredibly screwed up, that I would end up going past thirty hours before getting a good nights rest. I remember when Ian and West used to try and force me to sleep by not letting me drive or by letting me tap into Ian’s ever-present supply of whiskey. But to no avail I remained unable to sleep in the car and they soon accepted that I would just do most of the night driving. 

Driving down the nighttime highway tonight, I looked at the radio clock just as it turned its digits to 11:11 pm. Touching the silver wishbone charm on my charm bracelet, I closed my eyes for a brief second, wishing for the universe, God, or whoever was out there, to protect my brothers. I heard a soft chuckle from the right end of the bench seat of my 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle.   
“Something funny?” I asked West.  
“Never fails. What do you even wish for, Tori?” Answered West.   
“If I told you, it wouldn’t come true.”  
He laughed, “But how can you think of so many wishes? It always takes me like five minutes to pick a wish when I blow out birthday candles.”   
“I don’t, it’s always the same wish.” I said while still holding the wishbone.  
“So it hasn’t come true yet?”  
“Oh, yes it has, it comes true every time, but that’s why I keep wishing for it. So it continues to come true.” This time I looked at him, all I could see was the dashboard lights reflecting in his eyes and then his teeth as he smiled at me. He seemed to consider this for a moment then proceeded to kick off his sneakers and stretch his legs out and rested them on my lap so that his feet where touching my door and his back was leaning against his passenger door. I rolled my eyes and he chuckled again knowing I would allow it because he let me do it to him all the time. Ian, on the other hand would never have it, slapping my feet before they even made it close to him. 

Once West punched his pillow a few times behind his head and settled in, he nudged my leg with his foot till I looked at him. He held an orange flavored tootsie pop with a goofy grin on his face. I raised my eyebrows and reached my hand out to him making a grabbing motion with my hand like a small child.  
“Oh my god, give me that! Where did you get it?” I said excitedly.   
“The gas station.” West laughed as he unwrapped it and handed it to me, he was in a laughing mood tonight apparently. I popped it into my mouth eagerly.   
“Thanks, bwo” I said around the lollipop.   
Hard candy was my weakness, chips where West’s and pie was Ian’s, neither of us could walk by it and easily continue walking. 

I loved nights like this, everything about them was so comforting to me, Ian’s soft snore in the back seat, West’s silhouette beside me and the sound of the Chevelle riding the pavement, whispering to go faster. Sometimes when there where no other cars on the road, when Ian and West where both sleeping, I’d let the car convince me to press the peddle far past the limit. For a few minutes, the heavy weight on my shoulders would lighten and I could forget about everything for a little while as the dark countryside flew past the windows, blurring into the shadows of dawn and then the bright colors of morning. It was my own temporary bliss. 

The sun was just peaking over the motel building as I parked the car. Without waking my brothers, I entered the motel office finding a sweet looking lady with a nametag reading Doris. She looked up as the door closed shut behind me.  
“Oh, hello, my dear. Long drive all night looking for a room?” she asked.  
“That easy to tell?” I joked.  
“You’re not the only one, sweetie, they come in all the time. So just a room for one?”  
“No, can I get a room with two beds please. Oh, do any of your double rooms have a couch too?”  
“No, sorry, hon, I only got the double rooms, no couch. I hope that’s all right.”  
“No that’s fine.” She passed me the paper work to fill out and I filled in my favorite alias: April Manning. No one ever asked about the origin of the name or anything of the sorts, thus preventing me from having to lie about where I came from.   
“Alrghty, hon, here’s the keys, and here’s the key to the pool.” she slid the keys over to me, a smile spread across her face as she saw how excited I was to hear the word ‘pool’.   
“Thanks!” I said, nearly skipping out of the door. 

Power walking over to the car I knocked briskly on the window, Ian and West jumping slightly from their seats, then rubbing sleep from their eyes.  
“Guys, guys, guys, there’s a pool!!” I nearly shouted, jingling the key in front of them.  
“That’ll shut her up and keep her busy for a while.” muttered Ian.   
We loaded our bags into the room and I was changed into my bathing suit with a towel in hand before West and Ian had even finished yawning.   
“No way, you can’t go swimming yet, you haven’t slept since I don’t know when!” Ian told me, his big brother voice kicking in.   
“Pfft, hah, just a few minutes, c’mon please?” I sort of asked because I was already out the door. “You guys should come!” I yelled through the door I had left open.   
I didn’t bother waiting for a response, my flip-flops clicking with me as I excitedly walked to the pool. Dumping my sandals and towel on a chair, I jumped in the pool without hesitation and almost with a smile on my face. Swimming made me think of my childhood, and I loved how good I was at it, I could tread water for hours and never break a sweat. It was even better than driving the car at night, I used to dream of being a competitive swimmer for the Olympics before my life turned upside down. 

All of a sudden two big splashes came from behind me, making waves in the pool. Turning around I found Ian and West resurfacing from the water, this caused the biggest smile to spread across my face in a while.   
“We had to make sure you didn’t fall asleep and drown.” said West. I responded by splashing him.   
“Oh no you don’t!” yelled West as he picked me up and tossed me back into the water. We laughed and swam around for a little while until, Big Brother Ian told me to go to bed.  
“I’m nineteen, you can’t tell me what to do.” I childishly responded.   
Ian just narrowed his eyes at me, challenging me, with a smile playing at his lips. I sighed and made a fake pouting face as I got out of the pool, but I was okay with it, the last few hours had been the happiest and most normal that we’d had in a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori and her brothers work on a basilisk case. Ian has bad dreams and Tori tells when and how she learned about the world of the supernatural.

I woke up a few hours later with the smell of Chinese food filling the room. As I sat up rubbing my eyes, I heard Ian chuckle from the corner.  
“Well, your hair looks fabulous.” he said while still chuckling.  
“Shut up” I said patting the big bump on the back of my head. I had taken a shower after swimming that morning and had gone to bed with wet hair, forgetting to braid it like I usually did because of how tired I was. And the result was a birds nest for a hairdo when I woke up. West sat beside me on the bed, making me jostle and almost fall towards him. Curse these motel beds. He shoved a steaming box of Chinese food in front of my face, the smell waking me up as I realized how hungry I was.   
“Why thank you, Wesley.” I said taking the box, proceeding to stuff my face.  
“She’s so polite when you come bearing food” West laughed. I only used his full name when I was asking for something or when I was saying thanks after I got something. It usually revolved around food.   
“Ok, down to business. Are you awake enough, Tori?” asked Ian. I waved my hand about as if to say ‘sure, whatever’ while still putting food in my mouth.   
“Alright, so while you where unconscious, me and West checked out the body and then questioned the wife. So far, things are leading towards a vampire, but usually that means that there must be a nest near the area to which we have no leads on as to where.” Ian filled me in.   
“Picture of the bite mark?” I asked around a mouthful of food and West provided a glossy picture.   
“Ok, c’mon guys, that’s not a vamp bite, that’s a Basilisk bite. Did you even bother to ask if the body was drained of blood?” I said disapprovingly. Sometimes my brothers didn’t look at all the possibilities, they just looked at something and decided ‘oh its probably that’. In the end I suppose it was easy for me to say because I do most of the research. Since I don’t look old enough to be an FBI agent I’m always stuck with the books while Ian, who’s twenty-six and West who’s twenty-four can always pass by looking like they could have more authority.   
My brothers looked at each other, lips pursed.   
“The pathologist wasn’t there.” Both boys said at the same time, defending themselves.   
“Welp, good thing you’ve got me.” I winked and jumped off the bed to grab my laptop. With a few easy clicks I showed them a file I had kept a long time ago to when I had some down time with some roman books.   
“Originally it was said to be a snake-like animal with marks on its head that looked like a crown but sometime in the Middle Ages it was then described as a serpent with the head of a rooster and wings of a dragon. They have a deadly bite, and venomous breath, oh and this is scary,” I looked up at them, “apparently they can kill you just by looking at you.” I finished, eyebrows raised and then quickly getting over it and taking another bite of food.  
“Well, that’s just awesome” Ian said sarcastically. “Any weaknesses at least?”   
“Not that I can see here, I guess I gotta hit some more books.” I said pensively, stabbing my chopsticks around the box.   
“Ok so you and West can do that, while I go back and look at the body, maybe see if they found any venom just to confirm that what we are dealing with really is a Basi—, bais—….a what again?”  
“Basilisk.” I told him.  
Ian just yawned and rubbed his face as he grabbed the car keys and walked out the door.   
I noticed for the millionth time that he looked tired. He slept, but many times as I drove at night or the times I had to share a bed with him I noticed that he was dreaming a lot, or rather, having nightmares. He’d call out to Mom softly, yelling no, or telling West to take me and run, kicking his sheets around him, occasionally kicking me. He’d calm down a little bit once I put my hand on his arm whispering that West and I were safe and Mom was protecting us. Ian would be ok for a few hours and then the dream would start up again, but at that point I would just wake him up since he’d at least gotten a few quiet hours of sleep in. 

The absence of our parents haunted each of us everyday in different ways. Ian through his nightmares, West through randomly asking if we could go home, then immediately reminding himself that we didn’t have a home anymore. Then me, looking at my brothers as being the only parents I have known for half of my life. We lost our parents to a pair of werewolves when I was nine, West was fourteen and Ian was sixteen. That’s when we learned that our parents used to be hunters, before they decided to quit and have kids. Our Uncle Vince, Dad’s brother, a hunter as well, took us under his wing, helping us move into his home claiming ours wasn’t demon proof enough.   
I remember going through boxes in the basement, trying to figure out what to keep, what to leave and what to throw out. I found box after box of information about different creatures and monsters all with my mothers’ handwritten notes in the sides, eliminating some information and adding others. Tears filled my nine-year-old eyes because I didn’t understand how my parents could be completely different people. But to Ian’s protests I kept the boxes of information, reading as much as I could over the next two years. I even helped uncle Vince work a few cases from home, he’d call asking about a certain monster and I’d effortlessly tell him everything I’d learned from Mom’s notes.   
I suppose I did it because if it helped my uncle in any which way to come home safely, I’d do it, I wasn’t going to lose any more family members. 

The year I turned eleven I started training. Uncle Vince came up to me and put a knife in my small hands.  
“Try and cut me.” he said. I didn’t try, why would I do such a thing?  
“Victoria Elisa Vallen, listen to me, try and cut me” I didn’t like it when people used my full name, so I jabbed at him halfheartedly. Uncle Vince easily moved out of the way.  
“Again,” he said “faster this time.” So I did, once again he moved easily out of the way.   
We worked like this for months, I liked hand-to-hand combat, and throwing knifes, but I liked a bow and arrow the most. I was snooping around Uncle Vince’s weapon room once and found a dusty old wooden longbow in the corner, quiver and arrows carelessly put next to it. Next thing I new I was hitting bull’s-eye every time I released an arrow. Ian hated that Uncle Vince was training me, hearing them argue about it time and time again.   
“When I said you should train us, I meant just me and West.” Ian would yell at Uncle Vince. “She’s a little girl who should grow up with a normal life” Ian would continue.   
“She loves it, can’t you see?” Uncle Vince would point at me through the window as my arrow hit another bull’s eye. “I’m not saying she’s going to be a hunter, she’ll go through life now being able to defend herself from anything that she has to.” He would finish, and then walk out the door, bluntly indicating to Ian that the conversation was over. 

A year passed and we all learned quickly, Ian was a killer shot with a gun and fighting, West was extremely good at hand to hand combat and being able to get out effortlessly of almost any chokehold or being tied up, I held on to my bow, progressing to a compound bow and a crossbow as well. The only thing about a bow, though, was that I couldn’t just tuck one into a jacket, so they all worked with me to improve my gun and fighting skills, teaching me different techniques so that I could compensate my lack of strength with speed. 

Soon after, Ian finished his senior year early and started going on hunts with Uncle Vince, leaving West and I home for days at a time. Then, one day, Ian came home from a hunt all by himself. Uncle Vince had been killed fighting a vampire. We were once again parentless. At this point, however, since Ian was nineteen, we stayed in Uncle Vince’s home laying low for a while until strange deaths started popping up around town, leading to a demon that needed to be sent back to hell. The fact that we knew what was in town meant that we needed to do something about it but Ian wasn’t going to take me on the hunt and I wasn’t going to let him and West go without me. So I dug through one of Mom’s old boxes, finding an address book filled with a bunch of other hunters and psychics, of people that could help. My mother’s handwriting indicated that a certain Bobby Singer was a good hunter and a good friend. West sat silently as me and Ian fought over calling Bobby or not.  
“We don’t know if we can trust him!” Ian said.  
“But Mom says we can!” I shouted back, stabbing my finger on Mom’s note.  
“That was years ago, Tori! No, I say no and that’s final.” Ian finished. 

A few weeks later however, when there was a body count of four, we didn’t need to call anyone because Bobby Singer showed up on our doorstep looking for Uncle Vince. After Ian and West had a long talk with Bobby behind closed doors where I wasn’t allowed to be, Ian decided that Bobby could be trusted. Within hours Bobby and Ian exorcised the demon together and the next day Bobby brought us back to his home to meet some hunters who where near our age, and who’s father we could trust as well. 

The Winchesters were a family of three, the father John, and his two sons Dean and Sam. Dean was two years older than Ian and they had so much in common that they where nearly inseparable each time we visited or ran into them, they even looked alike, same green eyes, same height and same hairstyle. Sam was the same age as West and they had just as much in common, personality wise, as Dean and Ian did, although Sam was a little bit taller, West wasn’t very far behind him. West finished school and he and Ian started going on more hunts with Sam, Dean and John, leaving Bobby and me to do all the research for them. At this point I had quit going to school and continued my studies at Bobby’s or whatever motel we were staying at. We had left Uncle Vince’s house behind, unable to pay for it and taking the money we inherited to pay for motel rooms in between stays at Bobby’s. That year however, when I quit school, a few months later Sam decided to quit hunting and go back to school, he’d been accepted into Stanford. John and Dean weren’t happy about it, but I knew how much Sam wanted to be normal, so I was happy for him. This was also around the time I met the Harvelles, Ellen and Jo, the father of the family used to be a hunter before he died working a case with John. The rest of the family kept the bar they owned afloat and helped out other hunters whenever they could. Ash stayed with them as well and was a genius when it came to hacking computers. My family became good friends with theirs and I was more than happy to spend time with other girls, Ellen was Jo’s mother and Jo was three years older than me, we got along well, until someone mentioned me on a hunt and Jo would get a little sour. Her mother wouldn’t let her hunt because Ellen couldn’t risk losing another family member. 

By the time I was fifteen Ian and West let me come on my first hunt. They had really only let me come because Bobby wasn’t home and couldn’t make me stay, and the Harvelle roadhouse was in Nebraska, two states over from the case. Also, the Winchesters were busy attending to another case, so we had to deal with this one on our own. 

It was supposed to be an easy case, we’d scoped out the vampire nest and watched their actions for a few days finding out when they came and went. I was set up on the roof of the next building with my bow and arrow, my job was to shoot the ones that ran out, while Ian and West sneaked inside and silently pegged off the others. If our observations where right there should only be eight vampires to take out. I waited anxiously, my arrows dripping with dead man’s blood, as the boys went in. Two minutes later, a vampire ran out the door, less than a second passed when my arrow fired right into his heart. He fell forward, but he wasn’t dead, just knocked out, we’d have to cut off his head later. At this point I was hoping that Ian and West had killed two vamps already meaning we had maybe three down and five to go. Two more came out the door and I shot them easily as West came out the door cutting off the heads of the three that I had knocked out with arrows. Ian came out saying that one got away and was nowhere to be found. A loose end we couldn’t afford. As I gathered my quiver I heard Ian shouting up to me.   
“Tori! Behind you!”   
I looked too late, and the last vampire grabbed me wasting no time before pulling me down and biting my neck out of the view of West and Ian. At first the pain was excruciating and I was scared, but it turned to anger as I realized that I had all this training and couldn’t bring myself to fight back. As he continued to feed on me the pain ebbed away and soon a feeling of ecstasy came over me, I started to enjoy it, the pain was completely gone, god I hated vampires for their powers. Finally, I felt someone pull the vampire from my neck and heard the choking sound of someone being stabbed, but it was too late, I was slipping. Then everything went black. 

I woke up in the hospital eighteen hours later, finding out that it had been a really close call but that my brothers got me to the hospital just in time. I was certain that my brothers would never let me hunt again, until I made my case.  
“Tori, I’ll never let this happen again.” Said Ian as he held my hand in the hospital room with tears in his green eyes.   
“Good, neither will I.” I responded with a straight face.  
“We’re going to find somewhere, somewhere safe that we can live and you can go to school, West and me, we’ll get normal jobs…” Ian kept babbling about a normal life but I stopped listening, planning my words before I spoke so that I knew I could convince him.   
“Ian, shh, stop.” I squeezed his fingers and took a deep breath. ”We’re not going to get a home, you’re not going to get a job. We are going to save people.” Ian got up on his feet getting ready to argue. “Oh no you don’t, stop, listen. Sure, I got hurt, but it’s part of the job description for hunting. We are not stopping because I don’t want anyone to go through what I did if I can help it. Mom and Dad didn’t hunt for no reason and they sure as hell didn’t die protecting us for no reason. Uncle Vince didn’t train us for no reason and he didn’t die for nothing either. Bobby didn’t introduce us to the Winchesters so that you guys could help them hunt for no reason, should I keep going? Ian, its in our blood. We’re meant for this, why do you think we all caught on so quickly with our training? Why do I have a crazy knack for remembering everything I read about the supernatural?” taking another deep breath I continued, “I’m not stopping Ian, I’m going to do this with or without you, but I’d much rather have both of my brothers by my side.” I finished; a tear escaped my eye and silently ran down my cheek. Ian sat down grabbed my hand and wiped the tear from my face. 

Ian hated it for the first four months, asking after every case we finished if I wanted to quit, if I’d gotten past my “need for hunting” phase, but I’d always say what Dean said to me once:  
“‘Saving people, hunting things, the family business’, It’s what I want to do Ian.” And he’d always stomp off without a word slamming the door then go for a drive in the car. West always seemed indifferent to what we did, whenever Ian asked for backup on trying to convince me to stop hunting he’d just shrug and say “I don’t care, as long as we stick together”. So my stubbornness led to where we were today, three homeless siblings, who hustled pool, committed credit card fraud and used fake identities to get by in life to save other lives. It was a job with many more downsides and the average life span of a hunter was relatively shorter than a normal person. We ate cold gas station food, or greasy diner food, we got hurt or kidnapped often, but we saved lives, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori, Ian and West finish up the case. kinda short, just some fluff.

Ian came back confirming that the body had not been drained of it’s blood and that the pathologist found a strange chemical around the bite that had continued to course through the veins of the victim, killing him exactly twelve minutes later. I smiled the whole time Ian spoke, loving how many times I got things right. We’d continued to do more research on where to find and how to kill a basilisk. A weasel was mentioned often, saying that it’s urine was deadly to a basilisk and that it lived in a hole in the ground, with dead plants around the opening, as its poison killed anything near it.   
“I ain’t touching no weasel” was the first thing Ian said.  
West laughed. “you’ll cut off a head without blinking an eye but you won’t touch a weasel?” he questioned.   
“Nope.” Was all Ian said, not intending to elaborate, but we didn’t push the matter. 

About an hour later we where walking through a forest that was closest to town, hoping to find the basilisk hole and dropping the weasel down it. Hopefully, the basilisk would be down there and the weasel would kill it with its apparent deadly urine.   
“So, um, if we come across the basilisk…. don’t look at it.” I said bluntly while scanning the area with my flashlight. Two bright lights turned right in my face, temporarily blinding me.   
“What? Don’t look at it? How can you not look at something if you happen to see it?” Ian frowned at me.   
“I don’t know, just look away I guess.” I shrugged, the weasel, whom I had named Tony, squeaked in the cage as I kept walking, running from one end to the next, sending weight to the front then to the back, causing me to sway with it a little bit. Ian and West grunted, unimpressed with this new information. As I kept walking, Tony grew more and more restless, causing my skin to tingle as I realized that he must smell or sense something. I stopped walking and held the cage at eyelevel, Tony’s eyes where large and his breathing was quick.   
“Guys, look at how Tony is—” I started but West interrupted me.   
“You named him? Tori,” West started to sound sympathetic, “it’s just going to make it harder for you when we have to throw it in the hole.”  
“What?” I said, then chuckled, “West I’m going to be fine, I’m not attached to him, I just thought a name would be fun.”  
“So why Tony then?” Ian butted in.   
“Cause Tony Stark, yunno, Iron Man, duh.” I started walking again as Ian smiled, giving me a thumbs up while nodding his approval.   
“Love Tony” Ian said following after me, but I stopped soon again as Tony got even more excited, reminding me what I was about to say before West interrupted me.   
“Oh, yeah, as I was saying,” I said while glancing at West. “look how Tony is acting, we must be close to something.” I swept the ground around me with my flashlight again looking for anything out of place or any dead plants that might lead us to the basilisk. Finding nothing, I kept walking, we all did so for about five more minutes until West pointed out three dead trees that made a triangle formation. When I was about ten feet from the trees, Tony went crazy, scratching and eventually biting the cage bars as I got closer. Directly in the middle of the tree triangle was a hole leading down, big enough to fit a basketball.   
“Welp, I’m going to confidently say that we’ve just found our basilisk crib.” Said Ian. “Toss Tony in, Tori. Oh, man, that was too many T’s…”   
“I can’t put him in, we don’t even know if the basilisk is in there” I said, edging closer to the hole.   
“Ah, guys…” West said from behind Ian and I, his voice shaking a little. We started turning but West quickly stopped us. “No, no don’t look! Tori, just open the cage.” I bent down slowly, fighting against every desperation to look at what must be the basilisk, finding Tony looking and scratching to get out in exactly the same direction West’s voice came from. I opened the cage and Tony wasted no time in running straight towards West. I heard Tony squeak as a warning hissed and then a louder, angry hiss, Tony squeaked a last time and then there was a loud thump as something fell to the ground. Then silence. Was that it? Couldn’t be that easy, I thought.  
“You can look now.” Said West. Ian and I turned around and rushed towards West, finding the basilisk and Tony dead on the ground. It looked just as it had been described in most of my research, body of a snake, head of a rooster (sort of), and big leathery wings.   
“I don’t think it was the weasel’s urine that killed it though. That just ticked him off, it was when it killed the weasel with a bite that right after biting it just fell dead.” West explained.   
“Interesting,” I said “but can you look at it?”  
“I don’t know, I only saw it out of the corner of my eye, maybe it kills you if you look into its eyes.” Finished West.   
“Ok, well now that’s done. I’m hungry, and tired, so let’s go.” Said Ian already starting off the way we came. I quickly took a picture of the Basilisk to add to my notes back at the hotel and was about to leave when I thought of something. Reaching into my backpack, I pulled out an old plastic sandwich zip lock bag and a hunting knife. Careful not to touch anything I hit some of the basilisk teeth off with the butt of my blade into the plastic bag, venom dripping from them.   
“Tori! Let’s go!” yelled Ian, already a few yards away. I gathered my things and jogged to catch up to the boys.  
“What’s that?” West asked gesturing towards my baggie of basilisk teeth.  
“Just adding to my collecting of deadly things,” I answered, “never know when you might need it.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our first interaction with Sam (only over text message tho, sorry). some more introduction to the personalities of Tori, Ian and West.

It was three o’clock in the morning when Ian started kicking in his sleep, a nightmare stealing restful sleep from him. I didn’t mind, as I still hadn’t been able to fall asleep due to sleeping until two p.m. that afternoon. Since I was already lying beside him, I wasted no time in trying to calm him down. He muttered my name telling the Tori in his dream that she couldn’t stay, that she must run. I wondered what was happening in the dreams but every time I asked Ian the next day he’d claim he couldn’t remember.   
“Shh Ian, I’m right here, I’m safe. I don’t have to run.” I whispered to him, taking his hand and interlacing my fingers in his. Ian calmed down and soon rolled over with a big sigh, dreamless for now. 

My cell phone loudly beeped on the bedside table next to me, yelling at me that I had received a text. Snatching my phone, I turned off the sound before it could wake my brothers.  
As my eyes adjusted to the light on my phone I read that the text was from Sam Winchester. I quickly opened the message while praying he and Dean were safe. 

S: You up? Read the message, I started typing my response.  
T: Mhm, good morning  
S: drove through the night again last night?  
T: yessir, you know me too well :) what’s up?  
S: oh, nothing, just can’t sleep. Just finished a case so I have nothing to work on.  
T: we just finished a case too, killed a basilisk. If you ever need basilisk teeth or venom, I can hook you up ;)  
S: haha I’ll keep that in mind, thx. We ganked a demon today, but let’s not talk about work.   
My heart skipped a little bit, Sam was like a brother to me but I couldn’t help but sometimes hope for more.   
T: what do you wanna talk about then?  
S: I don’t know, tell me something about yourself.  
I chuckled under my breath, Sam knew me so well already, what else could I possibly have to tell him?  
T: ah, that’s hard though, because you already know pretty much everything about me.  
S: ok what about before you started training? What did you do? Did you read? Play video games?   
I thought about swimming in the pool that morning, how happy it made me and how natural swimming felt to me.   
T: well, as you know already, I’m a good swimmer. When I was younger and taking my lessons, I wanted to swim competitively, maybe in the Olympics one day.   
I hit send before I could let myself fell embarrassed about it, it was a silly kid dream, one that could never come true now.   
S: whoa, that’s awesome! If we ever find ourselves near a pool or lake, I challenge you to a race ;P  
I laughed out loud by accident at that and heard West jostle in his bed next to mine and Ian’s.   
T: oh you are so on! I have a good memory, so I will remember. : )   
S: oh I’m counting on it, because I’m gonna beat you.   
I giggled softly at that.   
“Tori,” West said, making me jump slightly, “what are you doing? Go to bed.”  
“Sorry, Sam had a question about a Greek symbol” I lied, turning my face away from West so he wouldn’t see me trying to hide my smile.   
“Ok well, answer his question and go to sleep, you’re not sleeping until two again.” West said pulling his covers over his shoulder and rolling over. 

T: haha ok I g2g, West is nagging at me to go to sleep.  
S: alright, sweet dreams, Tori.  
My heart fluttered from him sending sweet dreams.  
T: try and get some shut eye yourself, Sam, sleep tight.

Putting my phone back on the table I rolled into a ball as if trying to keep this warm, happy feeling inside for as long as possible and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep on my little patch of happiness.

I woke up a few hours later and waited for Ian to get ready first, (he’s a bathroom hog). When Ian was ready he threw his body onto the bed beside me, shaking the whole bed and disrupting my blankets. He was fully clothed and his hair was already spiked up with hair jell.   
“Breakfast?” he asked me, wiggling his eyebrows knowing I would never refuse since breakfast was my favorite kind of food.   
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” I said, almost jumping out of bed. I saw my phone on the table and thinking of Sam, a smile spread across my face. I grabbed a change of clothes and slightly skipped over to the bathroom. 

Once dressed, teeth brushed and my long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail I came out of the bathroom to see that West was still asleep in bed. Looking at Ian, I pointed to West asking a silent question: still sleeping? Ian just shrugged, but I kept pointing at West while still looking at Ian. Raising my eyebrows and starting to smile, Ian got on my brain wave and a smile spread across his face too. I pulled out some headphones from my bag and Ian pulled out his iPod. We settled on the song ‘Bad Reputation’ by Joan Jet as I very gently put the headphones in West’s ears. Cranking up the volume as loud as it could go, Ian pressed play. West’s eyes shot open as he bolted upright and whipped out the gun that he kept under his pillow. Ian and I burst out laughing, Ian clutching his stomach and me wiping my eyes as they teared up from laughing so hard. West’s breathing slowed down as he realized what happened and then frowned, not impressed by the rude awakening. His frown made us laugh even harder and soon enough West couldn’t help but laugh with us. I jumped onto his bed and wrapped my arms around him.  
“Good morning!” I said while still hugging him.  
“I hate you guys.” Replied West, but he was still smiling as he said it so I kissed his cheek and jumped off the bed.  
“Yeah, we love you too,” said Ian “Now get dressed, its breakfast time.” he finished while rubbing his hands together excitedly. 

I realized how happy I’d been the last two days, like we where almost normal people, but the smile that was still on my face faded as I reminded myself that we weren’t normal and that if I was really happy for a bit just meant that something was going to happen, something bad.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian passes out, some backstory about Tori's charm bracelet. First interaction with Bobby Singer.

After breakfast we packed up our stuff and checked out of the motel, I unwillingly gave up the key to the pool while the boys waited in the car. We were heading out to Bobby’s to help with a case he’s been working on as the Winchesters drove out to the town to get a hands on look at the bodies. If we worked on a case with the Winchesters I preferred being out in the field with them because then I could be with Sam but they claimed that every time I was there helping Bobby with the research, things always got figured out faster. I suppose that it was true but I knew that the real reason was because no one wanted me to get hurt, being a girl and the youngest, I guess. On the bright side, I was the one who got to call Sam or Dean when we figured things out and I loved the praise I received for saving their butts. Don’t get me wrong, Sam and Dean where a hundred percent capable of finding the information that Bobby and me did but in reality it took us less than half the time it would have taken the Winchesters. 

As Ian drove I lied down in the backseat reading and re-reading the notes I had taken as Bobby spoke to me about the case over the phone. Hoping something would pop out at me or jog my memory of anything that might be related. So far I had nothing. I hoped Bobby would have more to go off of by the time we got there and that the Winchesters had gotten a look at the bodies. Giving up for the moment, I pulled out my iPod and put my headphones on, starting an instrumental playlist that always helped me think. With my eyes closed and relaxed, it was the closest I could get to sleep while in the car. I was in the middle of an Ólafur Arnalds song when I heard another song over my headphones. Hotel California by the Eagles was playing on the radio, West was singing and Ian was hitting the steering wheel to the beat. I yanked off my headphones and popped my head in between the boys, harmonizing with West.

I didn’t notice when Ian stopped hitting the steering wheel, but I did notice something was wrong as we started swerving into oncoming traffic. West grabbed the steering wheel swerving back into our lane with no time to spare while I looked at Ian. His face was slack, his eyes had rolled up into his head and I shook him as hard as I could from the back seat, no response.   
“Ian! Ian! WAKE UP!” I yelled, but to no avail, Ian didn’t wake. 

It took less than twenty seconds to pull the car over, pull Ian into the back seat and for West to take his place, driving to the nearest hospital. I sat in the back with Ian, holding his head in my lap, constantly checking his pulse and trying to wake him. We arrived at the hospital, West hastily spoke to the doctor and held his arm around my shoulders keeping me close. But I couldn’t hear them, I could barely feel West’s warm body heat, all I could do was clutch my charm bracelet to my chest and watch as they quickly rolled Ian away on a stretcher into a room and shut the curtains.

 

The charm bracelet had been in an old antique shop that we’d visited for a case around my sixteenth birthday. Ian had asked me over and over again what I wanted as my gift, and every time I’d respond with a different type of weapon that could help fight the supernatural. Ian, still being stubborn about not wanting me to hunt would deny every answer I gave him, until I finally got tired of getting rejected and said that all I wanted was a chocolate cake and a bag of hard candies. In truth, it’s all I really did want, new weapons where fun, but they were for work, sitting down with family as they sang happy birthday and laughed while eating cake was such a normal thing, and since we weren’t normal, it was something I loved to do. Getting away from the real world of our crazy lives, momentarily forgetting about the people we lost and just being happy. So we did this, West bought a chocolate cake with my name written in icing and they sang to me. Ian and West by my side, the Winchesters and Bobby over speakerphone, Sam even called from Stanford and for a little while, we were a normal family. 

Two days after my birthday, however, we were in the midst of figuring out a case, and the need to identify some old symbols brought us to an antique store owned by an old woman who happened to be an expert on ancient Arabic symbols. I’d been speaking to the woman as she explained the symbols to me as I took notes. She rustled papers around trying to find a picture to show me and as she did this more and more of the stuff in the glass case became visible. When she picked up the last paper, the sunlight that shone through the shop window beamed on the antique jewelry inside. A light was reflected back at me, glimmering, as if taunting me to look. Forcing myself to stay focused, I didn’t look down and examined the picture the woman was translating to me. 

A customer opened the store door and as it closed again the light shook and glimmered again, I couldn’t help but look this time. The piece of jewelry that had been teasing me with light was a silver charm bracelet, adorned with a couple of charms, a tree, a cross, an angel’s wing, a wishbone and a pentagram. Thinking it was pretty; I went back to listening to the woman. Trying to stay focused was almost impossible; it was almost like I could hear the bracelet whispering to me to try it on, to admire it and to take it with me.

We finished up with the woman, my notebook with multiple pages full of information. With one last, longing, look at the bracelet I knew I could never afford, my brothers and I left the store. I re-read my notes sitting shotgun while Ian drove.  
“Find anything you liked in there?” Ian asked me.   
“Ah…” I hesitated a little bit, thinking of the bracelet. “No, not really” I finished, there was no point in talking about something I couldn’t have, it was best to forget about it.  
“Really? You love old things, and that was an antique store. We used to drop you off at one and you’d spend hours looking at everything while we worked on a case.” Ian reasoned.   
“Ok well I didn’t really get to look since we were working, so I didn’t get the chance to like anything.” I explained. Ian took it and didn’t speak about it again until later. 

We’d closed the case a few hours later, killing an Arabic witch, who hexed people so differently than normal witches that I could write myself a whole book on the things they did differently. West and I were in the hotel room watching an old Nightmare on Elm Street movie when Ian got up and simply said that he had something to do. We didn’t think anything of it, it was something that Ian needed sometimes, some time to himself, and we all did at some point. 

A few hours later he came back into the room trying to make as little noise as possible, as West and I had already gone to bed. Of course, in trying to be quiet he made so much noise that I woke up to the bathroom light shining in my face. Not wanting to wake up fully, I just rolled over, turning away from the light. 

The next day, we were back on the road, Ian was driving and I sat in the front editing my new notes to add to my own journal on the supernatural, and West annoyed us by being the music DJ, constantly changing the song halfway though due to indecisiveness. Ian’s phone rang, and I had to pat all his pockets in search of the phone while he continued to drive. As I patted one pocket, Ian gasped and muttered ‘oh yeah’ under his breath, knowing full well that I couldn’t feel the phone in that pocket I moved on. Finding the phone, I put it to my ear in time to hear Bobby calling someone an idjit.  
“Who’s an idjit?” I asked, not bothering with hello.  
“Tori?” asked Bobby.  
“Who’s an idjit?” I asked again, obviously it was me.   
“Guess.” Bobby told me.  
“Is Dean complaining about someone eating his pie again?” I asked rolling my eyes, knowing I was right. “So what’s up? Need something?”  
“Sometimes I wonder if you can tell the future, Tori.” Bobby said laughing slightly, confirming my suspicion about Dean. “Just had a question about vampires, are there other types of vamps that go by different names?”  
“Well sure, lots of different languages have a different word for vampire and the type varies slightly as different regions believed they had different abilities.” I fired off easily, barely having to think about it, “But, in Greek mythology there is a creature that goes by the name Mormo, m, o, r, m, o, and they were said to bite children, and thus often being linked with vampires. I’ve got a lot more about it if you want me to send you my vampire file.” I offered.   
“Sure, that would be great, thanks Athena.” Said Bobby, I smiled at him calling me Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, it always made me feel so good every time he did that.   
“Anytime, Bobby” I said before hanging up. 

Tossing the phone onto the dash in front of me I turned to face Ian.   
“What’s ‘oh yeah’?” I asked curiously. Ian smiled and all of a sudden West sat up in the backseat popping his head in between us with a bright smile on his face too.   
“Give it to her!” West said excitedly.   
“Give me what?” I asked nervously.  
“This.” Answered Ian, dropping something on my lap. I picked up a small box wrapped in newspaper and turned it over and over in my hands. I looked at my brothers, completely unsure of what to expect was in the box, maybe it was a joke, we never did this kind of stuff.  
“Just open it already!” my brothers said simultaneously, so I did as they said, I tore off the newspaper and opened the little box. The box contained a silver charm bracelet, the same bracelet that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of in the antique store. Pulling it out I examined it closer, hanging from it was the same five charms as before, but three new charms had been added. I instantly recognized one of them as the anti-possession symbol, a pentagram with flame-like lines around the circle, another was a bow with an arrow and the last was an Athenian owl. I continued to daintily touch all the charms while my eyes filled with tears until the bracelet in my hand was just a blurry silver blob. Soon enough the tears pooled over my eye lids and slid down my face.   
“What’s the matter? Don’t you like it?” asked West, his tone worried, “We saw you basically unable to take your eyes off of it at the store.” He added. I laughed at what West said and wiped my face. They had reason to be concerned, I hadn’t cried about anything since I was in the hospital after getting drained by a vampire when I convinced Ian to let me keep hunting.  
“No,” I laughed again, “guys, I love it, its beautiful, I’m crying because I’m happy, this bracelet just seemed to call to me at the store.” West squeezed my shoulders gently.  
“Well it screamed Tori, it’s basically you in a bracelet.” Said Ian. This made more happy tears fall from my eyes, because it was true. Smiling, I held out my wrist to West for him to put the bracelet on, it fit perfectly, not too loose and not too tight. Still blurry eyed, I leaned over the back of the seat and wrapped West in a long, tight hug. Then I turned to Ian, he wiped the last tears from my face, and I slid down the seat right next to him, wrapping my arm around his midsection and he slung his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.   
“Thank you.” I said simply, because there where no words to describe how much I loved it. We sat like that for the while, my arm around Ian and his arm over me as he drove down the highway with one hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian wakes up, with a message from Mom.

I woke up to West nudging me awake next to Ian’s hospital bed. They’d gotten him into a stable condition claiming that he’d had a seizure, but he hadn’t woken up yet. The doctor continuously reassured me that Ian would be totally fine when he woke up, calming me down enough to sleep with my head on the bed next to Ian. 

“Wanna place bets on how long it takes for him to wake up?” asked West with raised eyebrows and handing me a cup of coffee. He was trying to cheer me up; I was always game for bets, because I won about ninety percent of the time, but I didn’t feel up to it this time. Something was wrong with Ian, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.   
“C’mon, what else are we going to do until he wakes up? It’s about noon right now, I say he’ll wake around two.” West said, nudging me again, trying to annoy me, it was working.   
“Two-forty-three.” I said the first number coming to mind.   
“You always pick the strangest numbers to bet with” West said shaking his head.  
“Ten bucks,” I simply said, confident with my time. “And no trying to shake him awake.” I pointed my finger at West, setting the rules. West put his hands up as if in surrender, but he had a smile on his face. I sipped my coffee and my stomach growled at me, I was starving. 

We made our way to the cafeteria to find some lunch, West told me that he’d called Bobby telling him what had happened and that we’d come as soon as Ian was well enough. I called Bobby back, hoping to get some new information that I could start doing some research on while I waited for Ian to wake up. Bobby told me that the boys looked at the bodies and found symbols carved into the skin that looked like they could be of Egyptian origin.   
“Tori, if you’re not up for it, that’s ok.” Bobby said tentatively, a frown crept across my face.  
“Bobby,” I started, “firstly, Ian is going to be fine, he has to be, I’m not giving him the option. Secondly, I could really use the distraction and actually help with something I’m good at.” I finished sternly.  
“That’s my girl,” Bobby said, his fatherly attitude towards me coming through. “Call me when you get something, case or Ian related.”   
We finished our conversation by saying that he was in the process of emailing me the pictures, extra thankful for the distraction; I thanked Bobby and hung up. 

Looking for the meaning and true origin of the symbols kept me busy until West closed my laptop on my hands.   
“Hey, bookworm, it’s one-fifty,” he said, shaking his watch at me. “Lets go and see Ian wake up at two and you give me your ten bucks.”   
I gathered my things and punched his arm as I sort of ran past him.  
“No way, you’re giving me your ten bucks.” I said confidently again, a few feet ahead of him already. 

Poking my head into Ian’s room, I was sad and concerned to see that he was still unconscious. I didn’t care about the bet; I just wanted my brother to be all right.   
“I haven’t lost yet, Tori, it’s not even two yet.” West said from behind me, I didn’t answer; I just heaved a deep sigh, impatiently waiting for Ian to wake. West squeezed my shoulders reassuringly. 

I felt like crying. But I never cried, not when I got beat up by monsters or when someone hurt my feelings, I’d only cried about four times since my parents died ten years ago. I’d cried as I’d gone through Mom’s old hunting research, I’d cried when Uncle Vince had died, one tear came out when I convinced Ian to let me hunt and I’d cried of happiness when my brothers got me the charm bracelet. My brothers had gotten hurt many times, but those where all from working the job, cut by a monster here, a broken bone there, but those where all explained, a reason behind them. What was wrong with Ian right now? A seizure? I hated not knowing, that was mostly why I’m so good at looking things up and remembering them, I’m too curious. I turned around under West’s hands and sank into his big embrace, wrapping my arms around his midsection and burying my face in his shirt, West was the perfect height to rest his chin on my head and when he did this, I always felt safe. 

Time passed slowly as we waited for Ian to wake up. Two o’clock came and went as the nurse came and checked up on him once, confirming that all was still well. We sat in two chairs, I’d held on to West’s hand, tracing my finger on his watch and the lines on his palm over and over again trying to keep my mind busy. West had fallen asleep while still sitting up, his head hanging down; he’d have a sore neck when he woke up. Tracing West’s watch again the time jumped out at me; two-forty-three, I jolted my head up, looking at Ian. His eyes opened.   
“I win!” I said, the biggest smile spread across my face, I squeezed West’s hand and pulled him up with me, jolting him awake, and dragging him to Ian. I grabbed Ian’s face with both hands and kissed his forehead. He smiled at me, and then frowned, confused.   
“What do you win? Wait, what even happened? Where are we?” Asked Ian, as he tried to sit up, but I kept weight on him, forcing him to stay down, his frown grew even more confused, and worry morphed onto his face as well.   
“Shh, don’t get up.” I said, “we were on the way to Bobby’s and you had a seizure or something, but not really, either way, you passed out, foamy mouth is kinda gross by the way, don’t do that again.” I babbled, relief making me an open faucet. “We’re at the West Park Hospital, we’re still in Wyoming. And finally, West owes me ten bucks because I won the bet on what time you’d wake up down to the minute.” I said the last bit to West, smiling. “Check your watch.” I said, winking at West just to rub it in. West checked his watch and shook his head while rubbing his sore neck. I felt and heard Ian chuckle and it was such a relieving sound to hear, it made me laugh with him, the weight lifting a little bit.   
“You better pay up, West, you should know better, don’t bet against Tori when it comes to times and numbers.” Laughed Ian.

He seemed all right so I gave Ian another kiss on the forehead and helped him sit up, punching some pillows and putting them behind his back.   
“Okay, okay, no more kisses, Tori, what the heck, couldn’t have been that bad. I’m in one piece ain’t I?” Complained Ian, but I couldn’t help it, this time he’d really scared me.   
“Sorry,” I said, seriousness leaking into my voice, “but this time was weird, we always deal with scrapes ad bruises, but this was a seizure, one minute it was Hotel California, the next minute, you wouldn’t wake up.” He seemed to take this in finally and stared ahead, thinking about it. He mumbled something, but I couldn’t hear him.   
“What?” West and I said at the same time, Ian jumped a little at our words. “I don’t speak mumble, Ian.” I finished, encouraging him to repeat what he’d said.  
“Mom.” Was all he said, looking at me, but not looking at me, he was looking though me.   
“What?” I whispered; it was all I could manage.   
“What do you mean ‘Mom’?” West asked. I watched Ian swallow hard; reminding me that he was probably thirsty. I poured him a glass of water; he drank the whole thing, took a deep breath and began speaking.  
“Mom, it…it was Mom…there…in the car.” Ian said weakly. West rubbed a hand over his face and I scratched my head.   
“But we checked for anything supernatural,” I explained, “I checked E.M.F., checked for sulfur, ectoplasm, threw salt at you, holy water, iron, silver, I can keep going, like I even checked if maybe you got bit by the Basilisk somehow, but no traces of venom. The doctors didn’t find anything weird either, and believe us, we checked.”   
“For once something sort of normal happened to us and you had a normal person seizure, if you can call that normal, I guess.” West said.   
“I don’t know how to explain it, guys, but it was Mom, we were listening to The Eagles and all of a sudden I hear mom talking, which I guess is when I passed out, and then I’m seeing her, wearing her favorite sweater, and she told me something.” Ian seemed to look through me again, but didn’t explain anything any further. West rubbed his hand over his face again, just like us to be relieved one minute and then stressed all over again the next.

Grabbing Ian’s hand, I squeezed it, making him actually look at me.  
“What did Mom say, Ian?” I asked softly. He furrowed his brow as if finally realizing that what she had said must have been important.   
“I…I don’t remember.” Ian said weakly. It was so strange to see him like this, Ian was the big brother, he was always confident in anything he did. If he was ever unsure, he never let on that he was. When he looked up at me again, his frown had disappeared and his face had been changed to apologetic.   
“I can’t remember…I’m so sorry, if Mom needed to say something, it would have been important.” Ian said again, looking away, shameful of himself. I squeezed his hand again, I wouldn’t let him feel bad, he’d had a seizure, but he was okay, he’d woken up and that was all I could ever ask for.   
“It’s fine, you just woke up, maybe it’ll come back to you.” West piped up, encouraging Ian. “You should probably just let your mind rest for now. Do you want to watch some TV?” finished West. At that Ian seemed to relax a little bit, but then he sat straighter.   
“Oh Hell no, I don’t want to stay in this stupid hospital any longer. If I have to sit and watch TV for a day or two, I’d rather do it at Bobby’s while you guys help with that case.” Ian said, already pushing back the sheets. I smiled, because this was the best thing Ian could have done to convince me that he was still himself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Vallen siblings head over to Bobby's. Tori has a flashback to her reunion with Sam after he left college.

We checked Ian out of the hospital as soon as we could, the doctor tried to make us stay longer but we just shook our heads and kept on walking out the door. I did make Ian lie down in the backseat though, giving him his IPod with headphones and played the playlist of his favorite songs that I’d made for him. It only took about five minutes for him to fall asleep though, letting me heave a sigh of relief that he’d let himself rest instead of straining to remember what mom said. 

We stopped at a gas station for gas and coffee and West gave me some money to get him a coffee as well while he filled the tank. I came back juggling two coffees, a water bottle and a bag of pretzels. Once we’d settled in the car again, West held out his hand for the change, but I slapped his hand instead.   
“No, c’mon, give me my change.” West said wiggling his fingers at me.  
“You still owe me ten bucks remember?” I said, taking a sip of my coffee.   
“Ok but then I should still have like four more dollars left, that can buy me more coffee.” West answered.   
“Hah, no way, labor fees. I just got hit on by the greasy guy working the register and then I had to juggle all that stuff.” I said, tossing my hair over my shoulder as if ending the conversation. West just laughed.  
“Alright fine, but only because you had to deal with the ‘greasy’ guy, no props for juggling anything.” West surrendered, winking at me. I threw a pretzel at him and he laughed and popped it into his mouth as he started the car again and pulled out of the gas station. 

We pulled onto Bobby’s yard safe and sound about four hours later. I turned around in the front seat to wake Ian, who’d slept soundly for the whole eight hour drive.   
“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey” I said while nudging his arm. His eyes opened and before they even focused he was already speaking.  
“Bacon? I’m so up for bacon” he said, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. The headphone cord was wrapped around his arm and neck a little bit and the IPod hung off the seat by the end of the cord. He tried, to no avail, to free himself of the headphone trap he was in. I couldn’t help but giggle.  
“Who knew that more than eight hours of undisturbed sleep could make you so rested and relaxed that you can’t even function. Sleep is supposed to do the opposite, yunno.” I said, reaching out to help him. My bracelet jingled beside his ear and I saw him stare at it for a while, concentrating, as if it was telling him something. But before I could ask what was up he’d broken concentration and looked around almost making me believe that it hadn’t happened at all. Free from the headphone trap, we got out of the car and opened to door to Bobby’s house, without knocking. Another thing that I loved about Bobby’s, it was the closest thing we had to a home.   
“Bobby!” I called in the house, looking around, you could tell the Winchester boys had been here recently, more beer bottles still sitting on the coffee table, one of Sam’s jackets was hung over the back of a chair, Dean’s small box of movies was out, the cover for The Untouchables was on the floor in front of the TV. I smiled at the things left around, another thing that helped make this place feel like a home. Bobby yelled up at us from the basement and seconds later his footsteps sounded up the stairs.  
“Everyone’s in one piece I hear” Bobby said looking at Ian. I had called Bobby after Ian had woken up telling him the good news. We all smiled at him, and he clasped a hand on Ian’s shoulder, squeezing it and smiling back at us.   
“Well I hate to be a slave driver but me and Tori have really got some work to do, I just got off the phone with Sam and Dean and they are waiting a little bit on us to give them the power boost they need.” Bobby said, making his way towards the bookshelf already. “Ian, sit down, sleep, watch TV, raid Deans movie box, make a sandwich or just do nothing. No work for you today, I mean it.” Bobby finished the last bit by looking straight at Ian as if taunting him to fight against him, like Sam and Dean always did, but Ian knew better so he just shrugged and flopped down on the couch and propped up his feet. Bobby and I got right to work as West unloaded our bags from the car, banged around in the kitchen for a bit and then left on a grocery run, Bobby was running pretty low on fresh food.   
“And beer,” Bobby had called at West as he closed the door behind him. 

A few hours later Bobby and I had found out how to kill the monster Sam and Dean were hunting, so I’d called them up immediately to tell them the info. Sam answered on the second ring.   
“We only spoke about five hours ago, Bobby, found something already?” Sam said a little confused but he only paused for a short second and continued speaking again before I could answer. “Hah, Tori must be there now.” He finished confidently.  
“Oh, she’s here alright.” I said, my smile clearly sounding in my voice. I heard Sam laugh on the other end and could picture his dimples making an appearance and breaking up his often-serious face.  
“I knew it, Bobby’s good, and you’re just as good as him but he isn’t nearly as good as when you guys team up.” He puffed out a breath and I knew he had something else to say so I stayed quiet. “Tori, you’d be such great college material.” He said the last part a little sadly. I ticked my nail on the speaker into the phone while shaking my head as if he were right in front of me.  
“And have you guys wait twelve hours instead of six to find out how to kill a monster that’s killing other innocent people? No way, also, we know better, Sam. Every time a hunter tries to move on they end up getting dragged back into the job or killed or have people they care about killed.” I didn’t think about what I’d said until I heard Sam suck in a sharp breath. Jess. I’d momentarily forgotten about his girlfriend that had been killed right in front of him, the same way his mother had.   
“Sam” I whispered into the phone apologetically, clutching my hand to my heart.  
“It’s okay,” Sam quietly responded. “You’ve got a point, Tori, and I do know better. Let’s change the subject, how about you tell me what you found out about this monster.” His voice grew stronger towards the end, already moving on from what I’d said. I told him everything useful we’d found and was about to hang up when I heard Dean in the background.  
“Oh yeah, how’s Ian?” Sam repeated what Dean had asked to me.   
“Well he’s probably had more sleep than all six of us have had combined in the last thirty hours,” I glanced at him sleeping on the couch, a bag of chips on the floor in front of him. “And he’s just eaten a whole bag of Doritos, so I’d say he’s doing rather well.” I finished laughing a little.   
“That’s great, we’ll see you soon.” Answered Sam.  
“Okay, and Sam, I’m sorry, for what I said, I’m an idiot.” I said quickly, knowing Sam would have stopped me if I spoke at a normal pace.  
“It’s already forgotten, Tori, but to make up for it, you’re making me a sandwich when I get back to Bobby’s” he laughed then hung up, I’d make the best sandwich ever. 

Putting the phone back in the jack I dropped down into a chair and realized that Sam’s jacket was on the headrest behind me. I sat up and looked at it, remembering another time the same thing had happened, it was when Sam quit Stanford to help Dean find John. I’d spoken to him on the phone while he’d been at school weekly, but I hadn’t seen him in years. He’d tell me about Jessica excitedly, talk about his courses and even ask how my brothers and me were, but he never asked about Dean or his father. I never pushed him about it either; I knew he didn’t phone Dean because Dean got in the habit of asking me if I’d heard from Sam and getting new details from me.   
Nobody was happy when he left but me, if Sam wanted to move on and go to school then he should, I’d agreed with his decision, even though I hadn’t really wanted him to go. In the end though, Sam had quit to find John because Dean had needed him to. We would have helped Dean if he’d let us, but I suppose it was something Dean didn’t want to involve us in. 

About a year and a half ago, during their search for their father, Sam and Dean had made a stop at Bobby’s to rest for a day or two, just passing through. My brothers and I didn’t know they would be there when we arrived, as we usually stayed at Bobby’s in between cases. I remember walking into the house, dropping my bag on the couch and digging through it for the rare book I found with information on Japanese ghosts that I’d been dying to show Bobby. Finding it, I called excitedly for Bobby to come see; pointing at a passage on the open page I’d flipped to, bobby sat on the couch to examine it as I sat down in the chair next to him. When I laid my head back on the headrest, I’d felt something resting there, reaching my hand up, I pulled the item down, only to find Sam’s jacket falling onto my lap. I jumped up and yelled; scaring Bobby and making him drop the already old and fragile book. He looked up at me wide eyed, brandishing a gun he’d pulled from under the couch cushion, then swept his eyes around, quickly, looking for a threat. I just stood there holding Sam’s jacket and Bobby’s eyes went back to normal as he realized what I’d yelled about, without a word he just pointed to the back door, which lead to the mechanical shed. 

I dropped the jacket back on the chair and ran out the door, cutting between wrecked cars and sliding on the turns in the gravel road to get to the shed faster. Baby, Dean’s impala, was what I saw first, then Dean on a wheeled cart underneath, fixing something. Finally I saw Sam leaning against the front of the car holding a beer and saying something to Dean about checking Illinois but I interrupted him.  
“SAM!” I yelled at him, still running towards them, he turned his head quickly in my direction, a little confused, but his face quickly changed to a smile. He put his beer down and turned his body in my direction, arms open, just in time for me run into them. I squeezed my arms around his neck as he lifted me off the ground, his arms tightening around me.   
“You’ve grown.” I said into his shoulder, he smelled the same, though. He chuckled, holding me for a second longer and then put me down. I couldn’t get the smile off my face, I also couldn’t stop looking at Sam, he’d changed so much in four years.   
“What, no love for me?” Dean said from behind me, I turned to him, he’d rolled out from under the car, a smile on his face.   
“You,” I started, pointing my finger at him. “First, you don’t let us help you find John, second, you don’t call for six months when you said you would,” his smile faded from his face as I accused him, shamefully, his eyes dropped a little, avoiding my own. “And lastly,” I took a few steps toward him, leaving only a few inches of space between us. “You didn’t give me a chance to make my way towards you.” the smile had come back on my face and sounded in my last few words, Dean looked up, noticing my change in tone and then saw the smile that had made its way back on my face. I went to punch his abs but he caught my fist and held it, then we both laughed as we pulled each other into a hug.

Later that day after we’d all done a lot of catching up with Sam, Dean pulled me aside and told me about Jessica, how she’d died just as their mother had, by being burned alive on the ceiling, by the same demon. My heart broke for Sam, he had genuinely loved this girl, he’d moved on in life, had just graduated from pre-law at Stanford and was ready to be a normal person. Unfortunately, once you where in the hunting business, you were always in the hunting business, there was no escape for anyone. As my brothers got ready for bed I then told them about Jessica and made my way to Sam’s room. I didn’t know how to comfort him, but I’d try. 

I knocked on Sam’s door and he called for me to come in, he was sitting on his bed in his pajamas reading through what I knew as John’s journal. When he looked up and saw me, he closed the journal and put it on the bedside table. I sat down next to him on the bed and crossed my legs, playing with the hem on my pajamas.   
“It’s good to have you back, Sam.” I said, “I missed having you around, helping me with my homework, training, and having someone else around who loved learning as much as I do.” I spoke the last bit to my pajamas, too shy to say it to his face.   
“Thanks, I missed helping you too, not that you ever really needed it.” Sam started, “How did your final tests go? You officially graduated from high school?” he asked. I’d done my exams about six months ago, around the time Dean had gone to get Sam and they had pretty much been off the grid since then, no phone calls and I could never bring myself to call, feeling sometimes I was too pushy.   
“They went great, finished with A pluses, just like you said I would. Also you helped me by being good company” a smile on my face, I’d finished high school a year earlier then everybody else, just as my siblings had. Sam ruffled my hair and congratulated me. Then I remembered why I had come in initially and leaned back on the bedframe just like Sam was. I linked my arm around his, held his hand with both of mine and rested my head on his shoulder.   
“I’m so sorry, Sam.” I whispered. Sam caught the drift and let out a big sigh.   
“Thanks, Tori.” He said, hesitated a little and then spoke again. “Do you…do you want to see what she looked like?” I looked up at him and squeezed his hand.  
“Oh, I’d love to, I’ve been longing for a face to put with her name.” he smiled a small smile and told me to open the bedside table drawer and take out his wallet. I did this and handed it to him. Still holding hands, he pulled out a picture, glanced at it and handed it to me. Jessica had blonde hair, grey-blue eyes and a sweet smile lined with pearly white teeth. I nestled my head back onto Sam’s shoulder.  
“She’s beautiful.” I said simply, but meaningfully.   
“Yeah, she was.” Sam answered softly. I looked up at him again, a slight frown on my face.  
“No, no, Sam, she’s still beautiful, wherever we go after this, she’s there and she’s at peace and she’s beautiful, inside and out. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” I said with a steady voice.   
“You think so?” Sam asked, the sadness in his eyes making me feel sad. He was the last person who deserved this, I thought, Sam should never be sad. I once again put my head back on his shoulder and placed the picture back in his hand that I wasn’t holding.  
“I know so.” I replied, and waited a bit before speaking again. “Now, anything I can help decode in this?” and I grabbed the journal. We’d flipped through it, Sam telling stories about some of the monsters in the journal he’d fought as a kid and at some point I fell asleep, even though I was very interested in what Sam had to say. I’d woken up again to Sam tucking a lock of hair behind my ear and he smiled at me.   
“You might be as smart as Athena and able to fight and strategize like Athena, but you’re still human, Tori, time for bed.” Sam said, pulling me up from the bed. He walked me to my room, my eyes groggy, and pulled back the covers for me. I was almost back to sleep already as he laid the covers back over me, barely hearing him say goodnight as I drifted off to unconsciousness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean finish a case and come to Bobby's. Just some fluff between Tori and the boys.

Sam and Dean killed the monster and were on their way back to Bobby’s; apparently Baby needed some fixing up again. I heard them roll in right around noon so I started getting some lunch ready. Having the life of a hunter meant that we barely ever got home cooked meals, even if we stayed at Bobby’s, it didn’t always happen as no one really knew how to cook, save the little bit I’d learned in home economics once. So I’d cook once in a while if I didn’t have any research to do up to my elbows. Considering I’d just helped Sam and Dean with their last case and the paper wasn’t giving us anything new and suspicious I was in the kitchen trying to pull something together with the almost absent amount of spices and cook wear Bobby had. Thankfully West had gone shopping yesterday and we had some fresh produce and fresh meat. So I looked up a recipe and got to it, pulling out cheese, canned tomatoes, ground hamburger meat and pasta. 

About an hour later I was pulling it out of the oven and didn’t even have to call the boys because they seemed to have followed their noses. One by one they came into the kitchen, rubbing their stomachs or sticking their noses in the air breathing in the smell of home cooked food. Dean came to the kitchen last, hearing his talking as he came down the hallway.   
“Oh my God, I smell food, real food and it smells good, really good.” Dean came into the kitchen to see all the boys standing around, waiting for me to give them the go ahead to eat.   
“Oh that’s why it smells good,” Dean said once he laid eyes on me in an apron. “Tori, made food.” A big smug smile spread across his face as he walked toward me and the dish I’d pulled from the oven, he went to lift the tin foil to see what was inside but I slapped his hand with a turner spatula. Dean retracted his hand a rubbed it while looking at me wide eyed.   
“Nah ah, someone has to set the table.” I said pointing at the dinner table. Bobby, West, Ian, Sam and Dean all looked at me confused, they had the right to be, we’d never done this before. “I’ll have you know that Bobby’s wife did know how to style a normal home and she actually has multiple table cloths and matching place mats.” They all continued to look at me like I was someone they’d never met. I sighed and put my hands on my hips. “Sorry, I just found them today while I was digging around for a casserole dish and is it weird that I just want to sit down at a table like a family?” I confessed. Everyone’s face softened then Ian spoke.   
“Good, I thought I was about to throw some holy water on you.” He said, walking up to me. I jingled my bracelet with the anti-possession charm in front of him as if to prove that I wasn’t possessed.   
“I never take it off.” I smiled at him.  
“Good, and don’t ever take it off, or lose it.” Ian said then ruffled my hair.   
“Even if I lose it, I’m covered, remember.” Patting my shirt on the side of my rib cage that had my anti-possession tattoo.   
“So, um, where are the, uh, place mats?” Sam asked tentatively, scratching his head as if unsure if he was saying the right thing. I just laughed and threw a dishtowel at him.   
“I was joking, I just wanted to see how you boys would react, I do however want to sit at the table, because I don’t think Bobby wants tomato sauce stains on the couch.” Everyone physically relaxed and sat down at the table, West bringing over a stack of plates and Sam a handful of cutlery. I lifted the foil from the dish and watched as the steam wafted from it, someone’s stomach growled. Cutting out the first piece and placing it on a plate, Dean was the first one to speak.   
“Oh my God, is that lasagna? You made lasagna? Have you made lasagna before? And if so, where was I?” Dean asked all in one breath. I laughed and gave him the first piece and answered his questions.   
“Yes, it’s lasagna and no I haven’t made it before, just came across the recipe and decided to give it a try.” I shrugged and continued to dish out portions for everyone else.  
I watched as Dean took his first bite of steaming lasagna and I wasn’t disappointed with the reaction. He chewed for about a second and when his mouth registered the flavor he looked up at the ceiling, back down to the pasta and back at me.   
“Tori,” he said with a full mouth and pointing a finger at me. “You’re awesome.” His comment made my stomach twist with happiness and I finally sat down and watched the rest eat their food. Almost as soon as Dean had finished saying I was awesome the rest joined in saying it tasted great and that now I was in trouble because I’d have to keep making it. I was okay with that though, once in while doing something as simple as making a home cooked meal to make them happy, or at least help them forget about all the crap going on for a little while. 

I was barely a halfway through my piece when I heard their forks clinking onto their plates, finished. They all leaned back in their chairs, satisfied, all but Dean, he still remained learning forward unable to take his eyes off the other half of the lasagna.   
“Dean,” Bobby said, “should save it for tomorrow.” But he looked longingly at the food too.   
“Bobby’s right, Dean, Tori made a huge lasagna probably planning for it to last for at least another meal.” Sam said already starting to put the tin foil back on, but he stopped when I spoke.   
“Two.” I said simply, popping a forkful into my mouth, everyone looked at me as if they didn’t hear what I said. I swallowed and then wiped my mouth. “Two, Sam, I made two huge lasagnas.” I said pointing to the oven with the second one still baking. I grabbed Dean’s beer, who was sitting closest to me, and took a swig, the boys just stared at me. Normally Dean would have gotten mad at me for taking his beer but he just cackled and grabbed the tin foil from Sam’s hands, rolled it into a ball and threw it over his shoulder onto the floor. It only took another five minutes for the rest of the lasagna to be dished out and for the boys to finish eating, me finishing my first piece as they finished their second. The food must have been really good as I didn’t even have to ask them to clean up and do the dishes, Bobby even said I was allowed to pick the movie we’d watch later. This surprised me because no matter how long they’d known me they’d almost never let me pick the movie, thinking that, because I was a girl, I’d pick the chick flick. This was the dumbest thing in the world because I hated chick flicks and the times they actually let me pick, they always ended up loving the movie, but always seemed to forget that I was the one who’d picked it. 

Half an hour later we were all sitting in the living room in front of the TV, I’d picked a movie called Inside Man with Denzel Washington, it was about a bank robbery. I watched as the boys intently got into the movie, another distraction from our everyday lives. Of course only about forty minutes after eating dinner, Dean piped up about making some popcorn and got up to bang some cabinets in the kitchen, the sound of popping and the smell of melted butter wafted from the kitchen. He came back, balancing three big bowls of popcorn, dropping pieces all over the floor as he walked. He gave one for Bobby and Ian to eat, one to West and Sam and sat down with the last bowl on his lap. I scooted closer to him, expecting that I was his popcorn buddy, with full intentions of grabbing a handful of the popcorn. But when I reached my hand to the bowl, eyes still on the TV, I felt Dean hit my hand away. I looked at him surprised as he moved the bowl away from me a little bit.   
“You know full well that I can and will eat this whole bowl by myself.” Dean said in all seriousness, everyone knew not to come between Dean and food.   
“Doesn’t mean you should be a hog.” I said reaching to the bowl again, this time he picked it up and hung it over the armrest of the couch, out of my reach.   
“No way, go share with Sam and West.” Dean said turning back to the screen. I felt West’s silent laughter, shaking the couch slightly.   
“Dean, what the heck? Share with Tori.” Sam came to my defense, but I put my hand up, stopping him, this was me and Dean, and I was in the mood for a little bit of a fight.   
“C’mon Dean,” I started. “you know I’ll fight you.” He scoffed at me.  
“Hah, no way, I made the popcorn I’m gonna eat it.” he said popping a handful of popcorn in his mouth. “Besides, I’d never fight a girl, who wasn’t a monster or a ghost or demon or whatever.” He finished, mouthful of popcorn. That got me mad, I was the farthest thing from a girl, he knew I could take him, he knew I could take men bigger than he was. I sat up straighter, neatly folding my hands in my lap.  
“First off, Dean, I made the lasagna. In fact, I made two lasagnas and I shared with everyone.” I said looking around at everyone.   
“True.” They all said, except Dean. I loved it when I had backup, someone had even paused the movie, all of them waiting to see the outcome of Tori vs. Dean.   
“Second, you know I can fight you and win.” I finished, looking at Dean, batting my eyelashes at him, imitating Bugs Bunny as a girl.   
“True.” Everyone, save Dean, said again.   
Dean rolled his eyes and moved the bowl back to his lap, surrendering. Bobby, muttered ‘idjit’ under his breath at Dean and pressed play on the movie again. I grabbed a few pieces of popcorn and put them in my mouth as I ruffled Dean’s hair with my other hand, like everyone always did to me, and put it around his shoulders, finishing by patting his chest where the amulet he wore rested, just to further rub it in that I won. Sometimes we all annoyed the crap out of each other, but we were family.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori goes on a case with Sam and Dean. Some Tori and Sam fluff.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of fried eggs. I groggily went do the stairs to the kitchen in my pajamas, finding West at the stove doing the frying while Sam and Dean sat at the table. Sam was on his computer, presumably looking for a case and Dean was reading the paper. Sam looked up when I came into the room.  
“Tori,” he started to say something but I held up a finger stopping him, I seemed to stop Sam from talking a lot, I noticed. I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured myself a coffee, black, sat down at the table, took a sip and then held a thumbs up for Sam to finish what he had started saying.   
“Ok, so what does this sound like to you?” he gestured towards the computer and started reading. “Nashville, Tennessee, 1997, man mysteriously murdered at the Union Station Hotel, Thursday morning, age twenty-eight, light brown hair, six foot one. One of the employees finding him with a slit throat” He looked at me here as if expecting me to say something. I shrugged, taking another sip of coffee and motioned with my hand for him to continue and give me more information. People died ‘mysteriously’ all the time. Also, why was he reading an article from ten years ago? “Normal right? Happens all the time, but get this, turns out the same thing happened twenty years ago, same day, same time, same type of death, never found the killer and nothing leads to suicide.” I looked up at him, interested, finally getting somewhere that could mean something. Sam noticed my peaked interest and continued speaking. “Yeah, so obviously I kept looking into it and not only did it happen twice in ten years but its been happening every ten years since, from what I can see on the internet, since 1907. Probably have to check hard copies to see how far it goes back, and it’s been open since the year 1900.” He finished looking back up at me with raised eyebrows.  
“Whoa.” Said Dean and I simultaneously. The gears started turning in my head.  
“Ok so sounds like a ghost on replay but usually those happen once a year, not every ten.” I said scratching my head. Sam looked at his watch, and blew out some air.  
“Yeah, I don’t know, but the ten year mark is in six days.” Sam said.   
“You guys better get going, then.” I said easily, knowing all too well how long it could take to find the source of the problem.   
“Yeah,” Sam spoke again, scratching his head. “About that. There’s this annual ball thing going on, black tie event, can’t even get into the hotel for the whole week without an invitation. Also, to make things even more difficult, it’s a ball for debutantes, meaning to even be able to get an invitation, let alone get it, you need to be associated with one of the debutantes.” Sam explained. I didn’t see the problem; Dean could easily flirt his way in due to the amount of women that would be there.  
“Yeah, so?” I said, voicing that I didn’t see a problem.   
“So, we need a girl, best way to not draw attention to ourselves would be to just walk in, instead of Dean doing his rounds and trying his charm on other girls. Also, since its debutantes, they all need and have dates already anyways, so Dean wouldn’t have any luck.” Sam looked at me as if waiting for me to understand something he was trying to say to me. I looked at Dean, but he just shrugged, he was just as clueless as I was.   
“Tori,” Sam said, getting my attention again. “We need a girl to get in, we, ah, we need you.” He looked as if it pained him to ask me for a favor, he needed to know that it shouldn’t, I would do anything for my brothers and these boys, Bobby too, I’d do anything for family. I downed the last of my coffee, pointed at Sam and winked.  
“You got it, babe.” I started to get up but Dean spoke up.  
“You gonna ask Ian if you can go?” He looked at me over the paper.   
“I’m nineteen, Dean, remember? I can’t drink legally but I’m still an adult. Besides, we don’t even know what happened to him yet, so it’s best he stays here to rest and it’s best if I do something to keep myself busy or I’ll go mad.” I spoke as I washed my cup and put it back in the cabinet, then walked out of the kitchen. 

I spent about ten minutes fighting with Ian about letting me go with the Winchesters, West sided with me saying it only made sense for me to help Sam and Dean if I could. In the end I reminded him about his seizure and that he needed to work on remembering what mom had said, I pulled out my laptop and showed him some things he could do to help jog his memory. Once I saw his face relax a little bit I knew I’d won, remembering what Mom had been trying to say to us was a big priority, what if she was warning us about something? Ian, sat back down onto the couch in surrender and I smiled and squeezed his arm happily, his sister was growing up and at some point he was going to have to let me go on my own sometimes. I popped my head back into the kitchen, and the boys looked up, waiting for the verdict.   
“When’s departure time?” I asked, Sam’s face relaxed, clearly relieved that he could count on me to help him out.  
“Well the car needs a little bit of tuning before we can leave, I’d say we can leave around four o’clock.” Dean said, looking at his watch.   
“Alright, so eighteen-hour drive, we should get there about ten a.m. tomorrow morning, leaving plenty of time to hit up the library, find out what’s going on, get our hands on an invitation and find some clothes before our deadline.” I said.   
“Ten o’clock? Did you forget to incorporate sleep into that schedule of yours? Also, clothes? What do you mean clothes?” Dean asked. I looked at him and didn’t understand why he didn’t understand. I rolled my eyes, ugh, boys.  
“Clothes, Dean, Sam said it’s a black tie event. If we’re going to blend in we need to dress the part. Your everyday FBI monkey suit isn’t going to cut it, and I can’t exactly wear converse to this thing either.” I said simply.   
“You mean…like bowtie and stuff?” Dean asked horrified. I nodded.   
“Hey, no one said I was happy about wearing a dress and high heels either.” I said putting my hands up as Dean was getting ready to complain. “Also, as for sleep, I don’t sleep in cars, so I can drive most of the night, no need to stop, and we’ll get there around ten.” I finished about to turn on my heel and get my things together.   
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said anything about you driving Baby?” Dean squinted his face at me.   
“Dean.” Sam sighed.   
“No, we’re stopping for the night, and everyone is going to sleep and everyone is going to be well rested because I don’t want grumpy people.” Dean decided. Sam just laughed and shook his head.  
“Dean, we all know that you’re the one who’s usually grumpy.” Sam said getting up from his chair.  
“Bitch.” Was all Dean said.   
“Jerk.” Sam quickly said back, I laughed at them both and went to the junk drawer in the kitchen, remembering something.   
Sam started to walk out the room but I called him back, waving the measuring tape I’d found at him.   
“Black tie, remember? I need yours and Dean’s measurements so I know what size tux to rent for you guys.” I said matter-of-factly. I wrote his measurements down and turned to Dean. He hung his head low, already complaining.  
“I’m going to hate this event thing so much.” Said Dean, and I whacked his arm, disapprovingly.  
“Think of all the women in their early to mid-twenties that are going to be there.” I said, a smile spreading on my face, Dean raised his eyebrows and cocked his head a bit. I heard Sam laugh again as he walked out of the room and Dean actually held still long enough for me to quickly take his measurements. Then I let him go and he went off to fix his car. 

I spent about five minutes looking for tux rentals in Nashville and about another two seconds to find their sizes and put my order in, under an alias. Satisfied with the price, I began to believe that this wouldn’t break our shallow pockets, that is, until I started looking for dresses. I almost dropped my computer when I saw how much the dresses cost. I looked through pictures of previous debutante balls that had happened, hoping I could find a different style dress that was cheaper but still fit in to the rest. No go. I’d have to find some money somewhere. After a bit more of research, I found a second hand dress store in Nashville where their prices where a bit more reasonable in my opinion and wrote down the address. 

We walked out of Bobby’s door around four, just as Dean had said. West was staying with Ian, looking through the files I’d given them about remembering, there was even a ritual they could perform with a psychic if need be. We didn’t say bye though, we never did, it was always, ‘I’ll see you later’ or something along the lines, because the truth was, we never knew if we would see each other again, death happened all the time on the job. The only difference was, sometimes the hunter became the hunted. 

We loaded our stuff into the trunk, some of my favorite weapons added to the false bottom with the Winchesters’. The first thing I noticed when I got into the backseat was that I hadn’t realized how much I missed Baby until I was sitting in her again. Even though I hadn’t been allowed to come on cases with the boys when Ian and West used to hunt with the Winchesters, save two times, once on a ghoul case and another on an easy ghost. Sometimes I got to come along to hit the books at the local library to help solve the case, and that was only when Bobby and me couldn’t do anything from his place. I smoothed my hand over the back seats leather and took a deep breath, taking in the smell of leather mixed with the familiar smell of the two boys in front of me. I couldn’t decide if it all smelt so good to me because it was different than my everyday life or just because of how much these people and this car meant to me. Sam and Dean where obviously important to me, but Baby was a happy place because she was another place I felt safe, where all the boys had to include me in conversation because they couldn’t go into another room, where I learned what Deans favorite songs where, where Dean taught me about cars and where I’d catch Sam staring out the window sadly sometimes, dreaming of something more to life. At that thought, I looked at Sam as Dean pulled out of Bobby’s yard, he seemed relatively okay right now, so I let a smile spread across my face, living in the moment, I was going on a hunt with Sam and Dean, without my brothers, this was new to me, and very exciting. I leaned forward and clasped my hand on Dean’s shoulder.  
“Baby looks great, Dean, inside and out.” Dean smiled at my compliment.  
“Damn right she does.” He said and then grabbed the box of cassettes from in between him and Sam, passing it to me.  
“And for that awesome comment, you get to pick the music.” He finished, smiling at me in the rear view mirror.   
“What? She’s in the car all of two seconds and she already gets to pick the music?” Sam complained to Dean. “What happened to driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole? I’ve been here forever and you’ve only let me pick the music like three times.”  
Dean shrugged.   
“Exactly. Shotgun shuts his cakehole, driver picked backseat to pick the music.” Dean explained looking at Sam and pointing his thumb back at me. Sam shook his head and laughed, accepting what Dean said, Dean winked at me, clearly enjoying the fact that he’d annoyed Sam. I picked Creedence Clearwater Revival and passed it to Dean, I really liked “Bad Moon Rising”, Dean grabbed the cassette and popped it in.  
“Yes! Was just thinking about this band.” Dean approved as the music started playing. I smiled and then shrugged speaking just as Dean spoke again too.  
“I’ve had Bad Moon Rising stuck in my head.” We said at the same time, for a second no one knew if we had actually said the same thing and then Sam put a hand over his face muttering “Oh my God” as me and Dean both said “what?” at the same time. We even got the idea at the same time to high five.  
“Better watch it, Sammy, if Tori keeps up a good music taste like that, you might just be losing your front seat.” Dean said making Sam slouch in his seat and making me smile even bigger than I already was. 

I’d never tell anyone but the majority of my music taste has evolved around what all the boys tastes were. Dean and Ian loved classic rock; naturally, Sam seemed to like more modern pop and a little bit of emo stuff probably because he was so angsty as a teenager, trying anything to be different than Dean and John. West had a bit of a country side to him, but never around Sam and Dean for fear of being judged, I suppose. Bobby also exposed me to some nice old folk and maybe a little bit of disco, so, in reality, I listened to everything because of them, the only thing that seemed to be genuinely my own taste was instrumental, movie scores, things without lyrics that helped me get into the zone when it came to research. Although the boys influenced what I listened to it didn’t mean I didn’t actually enjoy it. I loved classic rock, country, disco, emo, and instrumental, in the end I loved everything but rap. Talking fast with slang to a backbeat was not impressive to me. 

The first notes of “Bad Moon Rising” broke me out of my reverie of how I acquired my music taste. I sat up straight and grasped the back of the front seat.  
“Oh, oh, you ready Dean?” I said smiling. I don’t think he knew what I meant until I started singing along to the first verse.  
“I see a bad moon rising, I see trouble on the way, I see earthquakes and lightnin’, I see bad times today.” I tapped the seat to the beat and Dean joined in, tapping the steering wheel and joined me in singing the chorus. “Don’t go round tonight, well it’s bound to take your life, there’s a bad moon on the rise.” I bopped my head and playfully pushed Sam, but he just shook his head and laughed at Dean and me. When the song was over, Sam clapped his hands, playfully mocking us and I squeezed his shoulder and shook it a little bit.  
“C’mon Sam, there’s this little thing called fun, we’re allowed to take part in it sometimes.” I said “and if you think that’s the only song I’m going to sing out loud for the drive, you are sadly mistaken.” I finished and batted my eyelashes innocently at him. I looked around confused as Dean started to slow down and pull over onto the shoulder.   
“What’s wrong?” asked Sam “did we forget something?” Sam looked around the car, as if it would give him the answer.   
“Tori,” Dean spoke but still looked at Sam. “You can take shotgun” he finished by smiling at Sam. I froze, never in my life had I sat in Baby’s front seat when others where in the car. Sam’s mouth just fell open in surprise, and raised his eyebrows.   
“Uh…” was all I said, unsure of what to do, I didn’t want to be the cause of world war three to break out between the two brothers.   
“But, I don’t fit in the backseat, my legs are too long.” Sam said weakly, knowing he wasn’t going to win.   
“Welp, I guess you’re just going to have to sit with your knees to your chest, Sasquatch.” Dean said simply.  
“What, ah, no, that’s ok I can stay in the back, I’m small and perfectly comfortable back here.” I said trying to take Sam’s side, although I wanted so badly to sit in the front.   
“No, no, Tori, you’re sitting in the front, Sam’s moving his downer of an ass to the back.” Dean stated. I looked at Sam, with an ‘I don’t know, sorry’ look, he just waved his hand, deciding to let it go and opened the door, muttering ‘lasagna’ under his breath. We switched seats but not before Dean called out Sam’s muttered comment.   
“I didn’t see you make a lasagna, now did I Sam? Nor did you ever willingly sing along to a good song without me bugging you first.” Dean said then looked at me, “Excellent lasagna by the way.” I laughed and rolled my eyes, he’d told me about four times that he loved it since I pulled it out of the oven yesterday. Dean’s last comment seemed to soften Sam as he got in the back seat.   
“Yes, Tori, it really was.” Sam said to me before lying down in the back, apparently deciding to take a nap.   
“Thanks guys.” I said, as my cheeks blushed and Dean pulled back onto the road. 

A few hours later, after singing along to many songs with Dean and impressing him by knowing the words to more songs than he did, we pulled into a motel parking lot to stop for the night. I turned to wake Sam who’d slept most of the way, but stopped before doing so, I thought of pulling a prank, but I’d already stolen his front seat today, so I didn’t want to push it. Instead, I did what I always did to my brothers and had, on occasion, done to Sam, I picked up his hand that was resting on his chest and dropped it on his face. For a second noting happened, but soon his eyes opened under his hand and I saw his chest puff as he silently laughed.   
“Tori.” Was all he said and then lifted his hand to see me giggling a little bit.   
Dean opened the door to the room to reveal two beds and then looked back at us apologetically.   
“They didn’t have any more joined rooms for us to get three beds.” Dean said standing by the door. I raised an eyebrow not seeing the problem and walked into the room past Dean and dumped my bag on the floor. I turned on the TV, just because I liked background noise, and then started searching my bag for my toiletries as I called to use the shower first. The boys dumped their stuff on the floor too, Dean already channel surfing for something good and Sam pulled out his laptop. I showered and went to put my pajamas on but paused trying to consider if I needed a bra, I’d never been alone with these boys when it came to sleeping. Obviously I didn’t bother with my own brothers around, they weren’t going to get between me and comfort when it came to sleeping, but these boys weren’t used to that sort of thing. I settled on putting it on even though I’d be bothered by it all night. 

Between the five minutes it took for me to shower and the other five minutes it took for me to brush my teeth and braid my hair, Dean had fallen asleep on his stomach diagonally on one of the beds, arms spread around him and one foot hanging off the side. Sam was set up with his computer in the middle of the other one, but he was still awake. He looked up when I came out of the bathroom, and pointed to my braided hair.   
“Uh, are you planning on fighting or something tonight?” he said, referencing to the fact that I always braided my hair when I trained and when I knew we were going to take down a monster. I laughed and shook my head.  
“This,” I said pointing to my hair, “is what I have to do when my hair is wet so that my hair doesn’t end up like this,” I spread my fingers out from my head, as if I had antlers. “In the morning.”   
Sam smiled and accepted my explanation. I walked over to him with full intentions of wordlessly getting in the bed and sleeping there like I did all the time with my brothers. Sam jumped up off the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.   
“Oh, I’ll, um, sleep on the floor.” He said starting towards Dean’s bed to grab one of the pillows.   
“Why?” I said actually kind of confused, the queen bed had enough room for both of us, despite Sam’s size. “I don’t sleep like starfish over here,” I said pointing at Dean. “There’s room for both of us.” Sam scratched his head, clearly a little uncomfortable. I let my thoughts run off and stupidly started to worry if he didn’t like me, that the thought of just sleeping in the same bed with me was gross or something. I slapped myself inside my head, no, Sam can’t think I’m gross, and then I realized he was just being respectful.   
“I have to sleep in the same bed with one of my brothers all the time, Sam, saves us money on an extra room, it doesn’t bother me. Um, is it going to bother you?” I finished tentatively. Sam started shaking his head, convincing me otherwise.  
“No, no, I just didn’t know what you…” he trailed off, but I got the point, but he still seemed unsure. So I pulled back the covers and grabbed an extra pillow.  
“Here,” I said, placing the pillow in the middle of the bed as a sort of divider. “If that makes you more comfortable.” He seemed to relax and I smiled at how gentlemanly he could be sometimes.  
“Yea, that’s fine, I’m going to take a shower though.” He said, not meeting my eyes and turning around to go to the washroom. I settled in the bed, taking care to give Sam’s side more room because he needed it, and I didn’t. I pretended to be asleep when Sam came out of the bathroom, and listened to him hesitate a little bit at the edge of the bed, as if battling himself in his head and then finally getting in the bed. The smell of his soap filled my nose and then all of a sudden I was extremely conscious of how close he was to me. My body tingled a little bit every time he moved and goose bumps spread on my calf when his leg touched mine by accident. He kept moving and I could feel how tense he was, trying to find a position that didn’t touch me but was also comfortable for him. After about three minutes of his slight jostling, I turned and put my hand on his shoulder, his muscled were tight.   
“Sam,” I whispered, my eyes still closed as sleep pulled at me. “Relax” He took a breath and his muscles relaxed a little bit, but not enough for me to be confident that he could sleep. “Just go in the position you always sleep in, I can move if you need more room.” I had my eyes open now and looked in his eyes to show that I was serious. He just looked at me and then moved around when I raised my eyebrows at him for him to get going. He turned on his side so he was facing me with a hand under his pillow, then he looked at me as he hesitantly removed the pillow between us so that he could bend his knees slightly and then took a breath. This time I could actually see him fully relax into something familiar and comfortable for him. I didn’t even have to move, as it was just the pillow that was bothering him. Satisfied with Sam’s relaxed position I fluffed my pillow and put my head down again with a sigh. I yawned and closed my eyes.   
“Goodnight, Sam.” I said keeping my eyes closed.   
“Night, Tori.” Sam responded the sound of sleep creeping into his words. I smiled, happy that I could help him relax in our situation and then my smile left as I realized that my bra was digging into my rib cage.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori and the boys arrive in Nashville to start working on the case. Some money is needed so Tori and Dean head out to a bar to hustle some pool and Tori waits on tables. Some comedy between Tori and Dean (At least...I hope it's funny).

I woke up the next morning; Sam’s slow and steady breathing slightly blowing some stray hairs around my face. I opened my eyes to find that I’d moved closer to him during the night, my head was right under his chin, my nose an inch away from his collar bone and my relaxed fists nearly touching his chest. I stayed like that for a minute, taking in his Sam smell and the heat radiating off of him and then I realized he was almost too warm, either from his body heat or the fact that I had begun to blush as I fully realized that I had woken up next to him, right next to him. I got out of the bed, jostling it as little as possible and found that Dean was still sleeping too. I got dressed silently and ventured outside to find some breakfast. 

I walked up to the door of the room again, juggling cups of coffee and fresh baked bagels to the sound of Dean asking where I was.   
“Getting breakfast,” I shouted through the door. “Can someone open the door please?”   
Dean opened the door finding me balancing three cups of coffee on top of each other in one hand, a bag of bagels and a tub of cream cheese in the other.   
“Whoa.” Said Dean as I walked into the room, worriless of dropping anything. “How…?” Dean started again but I shrugged, still holding everything.  
“Worked with Jo and Ellen, waiting on tables for a bit, got really good at stacking things and balancing them.” I put the food down on the table and took a sip of a coffee and made a face, and handed it to Sam. “Yup, that one’s yours.” I said, I like black coffee, no milk, no sugar, but Sam did and I’d grabbed his by mistake. I grabbed the next one and handed it to Dean.  
“Black?” he asked looking at the cup.   
“duh.” I said, sometimes the boys were surprised at how well I knew them. I pointed at the one I’d given Sam “And one milk, one sugar for Sam.” Sam seemed happy to hear that as he’d been looking at the coffee suspiciously after my reaction to it and took a sip.  
“Oo Bagels.” Dean said as he rifled through the paper bag “Thanks, Tori.” I just gave him a lazy salute and started gathering my things; we had to get back on the road. 

We drove past the “Welcome to Nashville” sign around four o’clock and went straight to the motel we would stay at for a few nights. Thankfully Dean was able to get joined rooms for everyone to have their own bed, I was glad because then I knew Sam could sleep easier than the night before and I wouldn’t wake all heated from sleeping next to him. Opening the outside door to my room I put my stuff on the one bed and opened the door that would lead to the Winchesters room, to find another door that they had to unlock from their side. I knocked and a few seconds later I heard the bolt being turned and Sam’s face appeared.   
“Hey, so, um, I’m going to leave this door open, you can close yours if you want but…” I didn’t have to finish what I was saying because Sam just opened the door all the way and kept it open with a doorstopper, I nodded and turned to do the same with mine. Now the joined separate rooms weren’t separate anymore. I turned and started unpacking some things, keeping in mind to keep it all easy access, incase we needed to leave faster for some reason. 

It was about five-thirty by the time we settled and Sam poked his head through our door.  
“Time to hit the books?” Sam asked, we had a lot of research to do, how many of these deaths had happened, who was doing the killing, or more or less, what. I grabbed my bag containing my laptop, journal, some weapons; you never knew when you’d need them, and a bunch of random things, locked my front door and followed Sam through the joined one so we could all leave together. 

Once at the library Sam went straight to the old newspapers and I started on books that might explain why this ghost, or whatever it was, only killed every ten years. Dean stayed with me, I’d read out some lore as I thought out loud and he’d provide other opinions or ideas. We got nowhere with repeat ghosts because we didn’t have enough information on the killings and when they started. Only a few minutes after Dean and I had gotten stuck, Sam found us telling us that the murders had been happening since 1927 and that a certain woman, by the name of Ruth Sanders, was raped and then killed by her rapist, Kenneth Jones.   
“That’s dark.” Dean said.   
“Yeah, but that’s not all.” Sam said turning a page in his notes. “Kenneth was found dead ten days later, slit throat,”  
“Wait how do they know he was her rapist?” I asked interrupting him.  
“Apparently he’d been accused of rape and murder before, raking up a body count of ten women before getting killed.” Sam elaborated.   
“Is it just me or did you just say the number ten a few times?” Dean asked scratching his head.   
“Yeah, killed ten people, ten days after the last one he dies and someone dies every ten years.” I said writing down the obvious pattern.   
“And to add to the pattern,” Sam pointed a finger up beside his face. “Every man killed every ten years, was six foot one with short light brown hair and was twenty-eight years old.” I looked at Dean beside me, he was six foot one with short brown hair and was twenty-eight years old, I smiled and tapped my pen on my teeth, he responded with a ‘what?’ frown.  
“Oh Dean, honey, guess who gets to be bait!” I said finishing with the pen between my teeth, lightly biting down on it.  
“Whoa, Tori, you’re right.” Sam said, leaning back his chair inspecting Dean.   
“What?” Dean asked, his frown deepening as he looked from me to Sam.   
“Dean, how tall are you?” I asked, my smile never faltering.   
“Six foot one, why?” Dean answered still confused.  
“Dean, how would you describe you hair?” Sam asked, crossing his arms across his chest and raising an eyebrow. Dean put a hand to his head, still confused, I almost couldn’t contain my laughter, I loved it when Dean was oblivious.   
“What is this? Twenty questions? My hair’s short and brown, like a light brown.” Dean finished, he pulled at the zipper on his jacket, getting annoyed.   
“And last question, how old are you again?” I asked, putting a hand under my chin and leaning towards him.   
“Twenty—” he looked at my note pad all of a sudden then put his face in his hands. “Son of a bitch.”   
“Sammy,” I said, while rubbing Dean’s back “we’re going fishing.” 

Dean wasn’t impressed about being bait at first but then his stomach growled and he got distracted with the need to find some dinner. So we left the library, jumped in the car and got ourselves some food at the nearest diner. This was when I broke it to them that I needed to get some more money if I was going to buy a dress for this ball.   
“Wait, so how much do people spend on a dress they are going to wear once?” Dean asked, his burger hovering near his mouth.   
“About seven hundred dollars, and that’s not even near what others spend and not even in the same ball park as what they spend on wedding dresses.” I explained, Sam stopped mid bite, his jaw falling open and the salad leaf he’d managed to stab onto his fork fell back into his plate, Dean just stared at me as if waiting for me to say I was kidding.   
“Knew that was going to happen,” I said to their reactions. “And obviously I’d be the last person on the planet to spend that much on a dress. So I found a second hand dress store where I can spend about three hundred.” I explained and the boys seemed to relax a little bit. “Yeah, so I need some cash. We’re going to a dive bar after this because I’ve got an idea.” I finished, stealing a fry from Dean and popping it into my mouth; I was rewarded with a scowl from Dean. 

“Right,” I said, looking at the building. “This looks dodgy enough.” Dean looked at me as I sat in the front seat, we had dropped Sam back to the motel from the diner to do more research on the number ten for this case, we started thinking that maybe it was a ritual, and after I grabbed some things, Dean and I had made our way to a bar.   
“Yeah, and what did you say your idea was, again?” Dean asked me. I smiled and grabbed my bag from the backseat.   
“I haven’t told you what my idea is yet, Dean.” I stated, while digging around in my bag. I pulled out a pair of pink four-inch heels, and laughed when I saw Dean’s reaction.   
“Ah, are you going to stab someone with those?” he asked wide-eyed. I shook my head and put them on the floor in front of me and kept digging in the bag. I found what I was looking for but it was dark so I guess Dean couldn’t see what it was because he didn’t make a comment. In the corner of my eye I saw that Dean was looking out his driver side window, so I quickly unclasped the bra I was wearing, taking it off and swapping it with the other one I’d found in my bag without taking my tank top off.   
“How…?” Came Dean’s voice, I looked up to him staring at me like I’d just solved a big math problem simply by looking at it. My cheeks turned red as he looked from my face to my chest to the bra in my hands, but I quickly came up with a smart remark.   
“Dean you may be good at unclasping a girls bra, but the girls themselves. We’re masters.” I explained, digging for my makeup bag.   
“But… you didn’t even have to take you shirt off.” Dean noted, still a little stunned.   
“Like I said, masters.” And I winked at him. He still looked at my chest though, as if he couldn’t help it. “What?” I asked looking down, wondering if something was out of place, this situation didn’t bother me in the slightest, being a girl around her brothers twenty-four-seven meant I often had to deal with changing in front of them, or having to take my shirt off if I needed to be stitched up after a fight.   
“Ah,” Dean started but was hesitant to finish. “I mean, ah, sorry for noticing, but, you switched bras and your boobs got bigger.” He finished the last bit really fast and wouldn’t meet my eyes. I laughed again, unbuttoned a button on my shirt to show more cleavage and grabbed my bra, moving it around to further push up my boobs.   
“It’s called a push-up bra, Dean.” I picked up the one I was wearing previously, and showed the inside part of it. “See this?” I asked, pointing at the small amount of cushioning towards the bottom. “This is a ‘one size up’ push-up” I made quotation marks with my fingers. “And the one I’m wearing, is a ‘two size up’ push-up, so imagine this,” I pointed at the padding again. “But a little more than twice the amount of padding.” I smiled at him again because I knew he was uncomfortable, someone he considered as a sister had just explained a type of bra to him.   
“Um, okay.” Was all he said as he looked out the window again. I got to work on my makeup; adding winged eyeliner, fake lashes, mascara, blush and bright pink lipstick that matched my heels. Dean got extremely weirded out when I made him hold one of the fake lashes as the glued dried a little bit and I applied the other one.   
“That should not be something you put on your eye.” He said disapprovingly as he watched me put the first one on. His look of disapproval disappeared when I showed him my finished made up face.   
“How do I look?” I asked, Dean just raised his eyebrows then pursed his lips.  
“You look good, but you don’t look like you.” He answered, searching my face, as if he’d find the real me hiding underneath. After a short pause he spoke again. “I like the real you better.” My heart squeezed, he said the best thing he could have ever said to me. The biggest smile spread across my face and I punched his arm.   
“Thanks Dean, that means a lot to me.” Then I slipped on the shoes and opened the door. 

We were both standing beside Baby in the dark parking lot when I told Dean what to do next.   
“Okay, Dean. Hit me.” I said, straight faced.   
“What?” Dean asked, thinking he hadn’t understood what I said.   
“Yeah, you heard right, hit me.” I said again.   
“Hah, no. Why the hell would I do that?” Dean scrunched up his face.   
“Because I’m going to go in there, with a bruised face, to beg the owner to let me wait on tables to pay for the motel room I have to stay in to get away from my abusive boyfriend. Then I’m going to make two hundred and nine bucks in tips.” I said confidently, the number coming to my head easily. “And you’re going to make about a hundred and thirty-five bucks hustling pool.” I paused to look up and think then corrected myself. “Or I should say about a hundred and twenty-nine because you’re going to spend six on two drinks.” Dean looked at me, impressed and then frowned.   
“How do you always come up with random numbers and stuff?” He asked and I just shrugged.  
“They just come to me, now hit me.” I said, putting my hands behind my back. Dean stood there, unsure, the last thing he wanted to do was hit me. “My sob story has to be convincing, Dean. Now let’s get it over with, you know I can handle it.” I pressed. He took a deep breath and clenched a fist but still wouldn’t hit me. I guess I’d have to make him mad, I thought. I lifted a high heel and held it near the car door, faking that I’d scratch her.   
“Oh hell no.” Dean said grabbing my leg.   
“Then just hit me already!” I raised my voice at him. He took a deep breath and reared his arm back, I closed my eyes just in time to see him pull back a bit on his force to deliver a less painful blow. His fist connected with my temple and the edge of my eyebrow, softer than I thought it would be but I sure felt it, so it would do for my act. Dean grabbed my shoulders to stop me from falling in my heels, but it wasn’t necessary, I could handle a lot more than what he’d delivered.   
“You okay?” he asked quickly, grabbing my chin, turning you face from side to side inspecting. I brushed his hand away and nodded, this was nothing.   
“Ok I’m going to go in first and you’re going to come in a minute or two after, people can’t know we came together.” I explained while I hiked up my cutoff jean short shorts to almost show part of my butt cheeks, Dean nodded at my plan as I turned away to walk in the bar.   
“How’s my ass look?” I called over my shoulder jokingly.   
“I’m not going to answer that, Tori.” Said Dean stoically.   
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes, Tori, your ass is looking damn fine’” I said back to him as I pulled the elastic from my braid and shook out the waves, adding a swing to my hips as I walked. Show time. 

Even though I was only nineteen, my fake ID said I was twenty-two and with what I was wearing and the makeup on my face, I could easily pass as older. As I’d walked through the door I summoned up some fake tears and walked up to the bar. The bartender noticed me immediately and he asked what he could get me, I answered asking for a whiskey as I saw Dean walk into the door. I downed the whiskey as I let the tears stream down my face.   
“Rough night?” the bartender asked. I nodded, wiping the tears from the corners of my eyes with a napkin.   
“Ah, are you the owner?” I asked through fake sniffles.   
“Yes ma’am.” He answered pointing at my glass silently asking if I wanted another, I nodded. I downed the second shot he’d poured me and I took a deep breath.   
“Can I ask for a favor?” I asked the bartender, he shrugged unsure of what I’d ask of him. I was conscious of Dean’s eyes on me from across the bar at a pool table as I crossed my arms under my boobs on the bar bringing the bartenders attention to them.   
“Could I maybe wait on a couple of tables tonight? You don’t have to pay me, I’ll just walk away with whatever tips I make.” I looked up at him with a slightly pleading expression. When he didn’t answer I spoke again. “Please? I’m, ah, trying to pay for the motel room I’m staying at to get away from my boyfriend.” I lifted my hand to tuck my hair behind my ear to show the bruise on my face and to also show an old bruise I had on the underside of my arm. The bartenders face softened for me and I knew I’d caught him.   
“Have you ever waited on tables before?” he asked as he wiped some glasses, I nodded.  
“Grew up working in my parents diner before they were forced to close last year.” I answered sitting up straighter.   
“Just for tonight, sweetheart.” The bartender said and he handed me a short waist apron and placed a tray in front of me. I smiled my sweetest smile at him and extended my hand.   
“Name’s Summer.” I said the first name coming to mind and he shook my hand.  
“Terry” he answered then raised his eyebrows and pointed to the tables around the bar telling me to get to work. 

I waited on tables, bringing drinks, cleaning tables, filling bowls of nuts, gritted my teeth after a few butt slaps from weird men, when I really wanted to break their hands, but made lots of money in tips. I went to Dean and looked over his table of pool quickly, he was losing. I looked at another man playing at another table, he seemed like the better choice to me and I couldn’t explain why but I nudged Dean and whispered for him to play the other guy next. Dean, surprisingly, listened to me and ended up wining the most against the guy I told him to play with. I let Dean believe it was all his own skill but in reality I was distracting his opponent with sly looks and leaning especially close to him when I brought him his drinks. I’d smile as I walked away, men were so easy to distract if you knew how. 

It was two o’clock in the morning as Terry started kicking people out for closing time and I counted my tips. Once everyone was out he came next to me and I handed him about thirty percent of my tips as a thank you. He shook his head and pushed the money back towards me.   
“No, take that, please, use it towards getting somewhere.” Terry pointed at my bruised face “Somewhere safe, away from that dumb boyfriend.” I was really surprised by how nice he was and smiled back at him sweetly again, this time I didn’t have to force it though.   
“I will.” I said as I stood up from my chair.   
“You’re really good at the job, Summer, if you’re ever in town looking for a buck, don’t be afraid to drop by.” Terry looked at me seriously. Before I even thought about what I was doing I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him and felt his laugh bubble up from his chest.   
“Can’t thank you enough, Terry.” I said as I turned to go. 

Dean was waiting in the impala when I got outside. I almost skipped to the car because I couldn’t wait to tell him how much I’d made in tips. I got in and slapped the wad of cash onto the bench seat between us.   
“Guess how much that is.” I told Dean he shook his head already knowing the answer.  
“Enlighten me.” He said pulling out his own winnings.   
“Two-hundred and twenty-nine dollars, Dean.” I said giddily because I’d guessed the right number before. “What did you make?” He just threw the money at me.  
“How do you come up with these numbers?” he said shaking his head again and starting the car, proving that I was right. “And how did you even guess I would only have two drinks? I have a minimum of five drinks daily.”   
“Because, Dean,” I laughed “You were too busy watching me, and I knew it was going to happen.” He looked like he was starting to feel uncomfortable, so I patted his arm and said, “It’s good to know you’re looking out for me, Dean.” He relaxed and kept looking straight ahead.   
“Always.” He said finally and patted my knee. “Now take those things off,” he pointed at my fake lashes “kinda creepin’ me out.”   
“Ooo,” I said looking at him with wide eyes on purpose. “I want to creep Sam out too.” 

The first thing Sam said when I walked into the room with my outfit and all the makeup was nothing. A weird strangled sound came out of his mouth and then he squinted as if he wasn’t sure if it was me or not. I laughed because that was the reaction I had been waiting for. Sam mouthed ‘why?’ then his eyes widened when he noticed the fresh bruise near my eye. His hand reached out to touch my face but I brushed his hand away.   
“It was all part of it.” I said only to be met with a more confused Sam. Dean just threw the bundles of cash onto one of the beds.   
“Whoa. You got this waiting on tables?” Sam asked wide-eyed. I nodded and Dean spoke.   
“You think that’s impressive? You should see what she can do with a bra.” Dean spoke all impressed until he realized what he said was totally weird and then looked down at the floor. I just laughed looking at Sam’s returning expression and slapped Dean’s bum.   
“I can teach you if you want, Dean. All you have to do is ask.” I didn’t wait for a response though and walked into my room to take a shower.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori convinces the Winchester to have some fun. hints of protective Sam and Dean.

I woke up the next morning after the boys but not by much, when I rolled out of bed and walked into their room Dean was still in bed watching TV and Sam was brushing his teeth. I jumped on Sam’s made bed and noticed I’d forgotten to put a bra on so I quickly grabbed a pillow and hugged it before any of them could notice. Not that I was, uncomfortable with Dean anymore, I was worried about spooking Sam again when he’d had a hard time with just sleeping beside me. 

After the short ‘good morning’s I asked Sam what else he found out about the case and he easily launched into explaining what he’d learned. Apparently, the ten women Kenneth had killed where said to be witches, by the time he’d killed the last and most powerful of the witch circle Sam was thinking that they somehow became more powerful in the veil as a group and set out to kill the man that killed them. Of course, since they are ghosts and are so set on revenge, their replay happens every ten years and they set out to kill their killer once again.   
“So we don’t even have to go to the ball” Dean piped up. “Find the ten witch bodies. Salt and burn. Done.” He really didn’t want to dress up in a tux.   
“Not that easy,” Sam started again, Dean sulked a little bit. “All the women claimed to have been of Greek culture, meaning,” Sam pointed at me now.  
“Meaning they’ve been cremated.” I said to Dean. “Something else is keeping them here.”   
“Well, maybe Kenneth didn’t even know they were witches, just thought they were a bunch of girls he liked and felt like killing.” Dean offered, he looked from Sam to me, neither of us caught what he was getting at causing him to give us a look that said ‘what the hell? How do you not get this?’ “Two of the smartest people I know and you don’t get what I’m saying.” He waited again, as if it would click all of a sudden, but it didn’t.   
“Dean, just tell us.” Sam said as he fell back onto the bed beside me, tired of Dean straining out his thought.   
“I’m saying that a lot of the time serial killers are crazy and they keep things of their victims, like trophies, so maybe he kept something, a lock of hair, a finger, an article of clothing, whatever, and that’s why they’re all still here.” Dean explained.   
“Okay first off, there was no way we could have figured that out from what you’d said before.” I lay down beside Sam, equally as done with Dean as he was. “But, second, that makes perfect sense. Why didn’t we think of that?” I looked at Sam, he shrugged.   
“But where would Kenneth have kept that stuff?” Dean asked, realizing something else, Sam sat up remembering something.  
“He worked at Union Station, that’s also where he killed all the women. Union station was a railway station before it became a hotel, maybe that’s where he hid things and also the reason why the killings only happen in the hotel.” Sam rubbed his neck. “Okay, so that means we have to figure out what parts of the building stayed the same before and after renovations, we need blueprints.”   
“Alright then,” I said, sitting up. “Time to go to that hotel, you guys have to act as local historians, so suit up in those monkey suits of yours and get those blueprints, also try and find out what Kenneth did as a job, if he had an office, or what.” I said clapping my hands together. “Me, I’m going to…what am I going to do? Is there anything I can do?” I asked, looking from Sam to Dean but neither of them offered an option. I slouched a bit, resting my chin on the pillow I held, not happy with being useless.  
“I guess I’ll just sit in the car, shouldn’t take long.” I said, getting up to get dressed, I made it to my room when I noticed I was still holding the pillow, I threw it at Sam through the door. “You’re dressed, so you’re getting breakfast today.” I told him and started looking for a clean shirt. 

After eating the breakfast Sam had walked down the street to get and they changed into their suits, we piled into the impala.   
“Seriously Dean?” Sam asked as soon as he sat down in the front seat. “If you’re going to bring a girl in the car at least clean up after.” I leaned forward to see what he was talking about, because I knew for a fact Dean hadn’t brought a girl in the car last night. Sam was holding the bra I’d taken off last night, I’d been looking for it this morning and couldn’t figure out how I’d lost it.   
“Oh, that’s mine.” I said, nonchalantly grabbing the bra from Sam’s hand and stuffing it in my bag.  
“Ah, okay, I’m not even going to ask.” Sam said as he stared at Dean. Dean and I both laughed out loud because Sam now thought that Dean and I did other things than make money last night. At first I wanted to let Sam’s mind run wild but the uncomfortable look on his face made me feel bad.   
“Seriously, Sam?” I started “Do you actually think me and Dean…?” Sam’s face relaxed a little bit as it dawned on him that nothing had happened but a look of confusion crept on his face.   
“But, last night you said ‘you should see what she can do with a bra’.” Sam said to Dean.   
“Oh yeah, she changed her bra without taking her shirt off, I guess that’s why you found one on the seat.” Dean explained. “Apparently, women are masters at bras” Dean finished glancing at me. Sam relaxed then turned to me.  
“But why were you even changing your bra?” Sam asked, his question made me laugh because curiosity drove him to find out.   
“Because these,” I pointed to my rack. “Are the majority of the reason why I made that much in tips last night.” I explained, Sam accepted this answer and turned back to face forward. I laughed again. “I should leave my bras lying around more often, just to freak you out.” I finished and reached forward to pat his chest. 

I sat in the car as I waited for Sam and Dean and took this opportunity to call Ian. I’d texted him and West when we’d first stopped for the night, again when we got to the next motel and another time to say goodnight last night, but I hadn’t spoken to him since we’d left Bobby’s.   
“Tori, everything alright?” Ian asked without saying hello.   
“Yeah, just checking in, how’s the memory?” I asked, not bothering with hello either.   
“Well, West and I have been going through what you gave us but nothings helping me remember. Tori, what if I never get it back? What if it was really important?” Ian said his tone a little tortured, I could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. I shrugged even though I knew he couldn’t see me.   
“Maybe, it’s actually nothing. Maybe you had a seizure and your mind protected you by imagining Mom comforting you or something.” I offered then took a deep breath when I thought of another possible reason. “Maybe you were actually dying and Mom was there to help you move along, but you came back to us before a reaper could collect you.” I rubbed my forehead, frustrated.   
“You think so?” Ian asked, I let my hand drop down, smacking my thigh, it was so strange to hear Ian being unsure. So I told him what he needed to hear, even though it’s not what I thought.   
“Yeah, so lets just forget about it until I get back, maybe I’ll do more research. Why don’t you look for another case that we can do when I get back? I’m sure you’re getting tired of sitting around.”  
“Yeah, ok I’ll do that, thanks Tori.” Ian said.  
“What are you thanking me for?” I rolled my eyes. “West around? I want to say hi to him.”   
“Yeah, just a sec.” said Ian, I could hear him walking and then some shuffling as I heard Ian tell West it was me and handed the phone to him.   
“Hey Tori” West sounded tired.   
“Hey, how’s it going? You sound tired.” I said. If I wasn’t concerned for my oldest brother, I started getting concerned for the other one too.   
“Hah, yeah, we tried a memory thing where you keep the person awake for over thirty hours and then sort of hypnotize them to try and help them remember, I stayed up to make sure Ian did, but we tried the hypnotism about an hour ago, nothing.” Ian finished his sentence by yawning.   
“West I think we should just forget about it for now, at least till I’m back, look for a new case that we can go work on next week, I think Ian’s brain is a little fried right now.” I told West.   
“Okay, so how is it going with Sam and Dean?” West asked a little bit a concern dripping into his voice.   
“It’s good, Dean even let me sit in the front seat for a while AND pick the music!” I laughed because I knew West hadn’t gotten the opportunity to pick the music either.   
“Well that is totally unfair, but that’s good, I guess. Keep texting and calling though, okay?” West urged me.  
“Wesley, I’m with Sam and Dean, probably couldn’t be with anyone safer when I’m not by your side. But of course I’ll call and text, are you sure you’re alright?” I asked again, if Ian and West could trust anyone to look after me it would be Sam and Dean and Bobby, of course.   
“Yeah, I’m fine, just never been away from you like this.” West explained, I heard the fridge open in the background.   
“What do you mean? You and Ian used to leave me alone all the time when you went on hunts.” I said confused.   
“Yeah, but this is the first time that you’re the one on a hunt and we’re the ones stuck at Bobby’s. You’re my little sister, Tori, I can’t help but feel anxious when I’m not there with you.” West explained as I heard a beer bottle being opened.   
“Well, now you know how I felt when you boys left. I hope you pictured me winking when I said that.” I said and was satisfied to hear West laugh slightly. “Okay, well I got to go, West, put the beer down and take a nap.” I told him.   
“How did you know I was drinking a—never mind. Talk to you later, sis.” West said and I was glad to hear the bottle being placed on the counter.   
“Yup.” I said and hung up, keeping true to my rule to never say goodbye.

Sam and Dean got back into the car successful, rolls of blueprints in their arms. I rubbed my hands together excitedly, happy to possibly advance in solving this case. Sam saw my excited expression and my eyes longing for the rolls and a file he held and handed them too me without having to ask. I unrolled the blueprints right in the back seat and started scanning them, comparing new prints to old ones. By the time we got back to the motel, I’d already made a list of rooms and areas that hadn’t changed during the renovations and was just opening the paper file as Dean unlocked and held the door open for me, never taking my eyes off the page. 

“Alright, Tori, what did you find?” Sam asked as I sat on the floor and spread the blueprints out, holding down the corners with my journal, my phone, my socked foot and a bottle of whiskey I found beside Dean’s bed. I easily flipped to the page in my journal with the list of unchanged places.   
“We’ve got about three places to cover that have remained the same since construction. Here, here and here.” I said while pointing them out on the modern map. “And I say ‘about three’ because there’s another place, a staircase, where the room around it changed but the staircase didn’t. Never know what you might find under floor boards right?” I said looking up at the boys. “So I guess I’m going to go with a total of four places that haven’t changed.” I finished the last sentence as I started going over the file again. “Turns out our killer and killed, Kenneth had a job as a porter.” I looked at the Winchester’s here, expecting them to understand me. They both gave me looks as if expecting me to continue and explain myself. I raised my eyebrows, challenging them to guess what they thought a porter was. Dean just shook his head and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, causing one of the corners of the blueprint to curl up, and took a gulp right from the bottle. Sam thought for a little bit, considering his thoughts.   
“It’s the person who assists the passengers in the train cart, right?” Sam tried and I smiled because he was half right, I crossed my legs and pointed at Sam.   
“Half a point for Samuel over here, minus one for Mr. drinking-at-eleven-o’clock” I announced and grabbed the bottle back from Dean and putting it on the page corner. “Yes, the porter is the person who assists the passengers in the train carts but they are also the person who assists the passengers with their luggage and helping them onboard. In Kenneth’s case, he didn’t board the trains, he solely helped with baggage and lending a hand to those who needed help getting aboard. But here’s the part we need,” I said pointing a finger to the ceiling as I read the file. “He also cleaned the platform in between arriving and departing trains. This means he must have had a supply closet or a janitors closet.” I looked up excitedly at Sam and Dean. “Where do you hide things you don’t want people to see?” This time it was Dean’s turn to point at me, a smile on his face.  
“Closets.” Dean said proudly, Sam and I both rolled our eyes and I patted Dean’s leg congratulating him for answering the most obvious question.   
“Right, so one of the four places happens to be a closet, I say we, obviously, check there first and then check the other places if we don’t find anything.” I said, getting up all ready to go. Sam sunk down onto a bed and Dean sat on the floor beside where I was, leaning against the other bed.   
“We can’t.” Sam simply said. I raised my eyebrows questionably and Dean answered me.   
“They have security everywhere, they barely let us into the lobby without showing our ID’s, everything is roped off and we even asked if we could just have a look around and they wouldn’t because we don’t have a room booked there.” Dean rubbed his face and took the bottle of whiskey again. “We have to wait until that stupid ball, dress up in those stupid clothes and show the fake invitation Sam is going to make just so we can get past the lobby.” My raised eyebrows sunk down into a frown.   
“What’s with all the security?” I thought out loud.   
“This weeks the anniversary of ten years, I’m pretty sure the hotel is doing everything they can from getting a killer amongst their midst.” Sam explained and my frown melted away as I realized how much sense that made. Too bad the killings were being caused by a ghost that was already and always amongst their midst. I sat back down on the floor beside Dean.   
“Well then,” I said while taking the hard liquor away from Dean again and rolling it across the room far away from him “What are we going to do for three days?” Dean checked his watch.  
“No idea but, let’s start with lunch.” Dean answered and stood up starting towards the bottle with intentions of taking another swig before we left. I jumped up beside him and quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him towards me as I walked to the door. A hunter’s life came hand in hand with alcohol, but in my opinion, that didn’t give Dean an excuse to drink before lunch.  
“Dean,” I sighed. “That’s not lunch.” I grabbed my phone on the way out and called over my shoulder. “C’mon Sam.” I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on my face, I loved bossing these boys around, Ian and West would never have it since I was the youngest but, Sam and Dean just weren’t used to having a girl around, so they let me most of the time. 

I watched as Sam and Dean scraped their plates clean as I was only halfway through my meal, I could never understand how they could eat so fast. I continued to take my time eating as we didn’t have anywhere to be and Dean took it as his cue to order a slice of pie for dessert.   
“So what do you guys want to do?” I asked between bites. They just looked at me with blank faces.   
“Don’t you guys ever do anything other than hunt, eat, drink and do research?” I asked. Dean seemed to think about it for a little bit, chewing a bit of pie.   
“Well sure, we’ll go to a concert, a baseball game, usually we need to make some money, so I’ll hustle pool while Sam looks for ‘honest work’” Dean wiggled his fingers, making quotation marks. “A few months ago we went to Vegas for a week.” He shrugged when he couldn’t think of any more things. I looked at Sam, expecting him to say more but he just shrugged in response too, agreeing with Dean.   
“That’s it? What about little things? Like going to see a movie? Playing a few games of paintball, because sometimes you want to shoot someone and not have them actually get hurt or die. How about going to the beach? Or going to a fair? ” I asked surprised, me and my brothers made it a point to do something fun once in a while, get away from hunting, relax, and forget about the real world. They both shrugged again as if being work-a-holics didn’t bother them, but I wouldn’t have it. “Then let’s do something.” I said waiting for them to offer suggestions, they didn’t. “Guys, I’m serious, what do you want to do? Something fun.” I asked them.   
“Tori, I think you’re idea of fun is going to be a little bit different then mine or Sam’s.” Dean said. I hated it when they forgot who I was, that because I was a girl meant I didn’t like to do certain ‘guy stuff’.   
“Try me.” I challenged. Dean looked at Sam, then back at me.   
“Nascar racing.” Dean tried, raising his eyebrows, Sam silently laughed beside him, Dean was playing with me, he knew how much I loved cars and racing. I reached to hit him on the arm as he started laughing.   
“Oh you know I’m so in.” I said without hesitation and grabbed my fork to steal a bite of his pie. He pushed my hand away before I could get near the piece frowning at me. The smile that was already on my face grew bigger; Dean never failed to get annoyed at me when I tried to steal his food. Sam winked at me and then tapped on Dean’s shoulder to get his attention. As soon as Dean’s eyes looked away I swooped in and grabbed a piece and put it in my mouth, a smug expression on my face. Sam and I laughed while Dean rolled his eyes and pulled the plate closer to himself, no chance I’d get any more pie now. 

We went to the Nascar races and placed bets on who would win. Of course I won three out of four bets and Dean then decided he didn’t want to place bets with me anymore. Apart from Dean being annoyed about the bets I kept winning, he and Sam smiled a lot for the couple of hours we watched the races and that made me smile too. However, when a cute guy around my age sitting in front of us turned to talk to me after hearing my interest in racing, Sam and Dean frowned and sat a little bit closer to me. The boy noticed fairly quickly and rushed out a ‘oh ok cool, enjoy the rest of the races’ and turned around quickly. I looked from one Winchester to the next with a ‘what the hell’ look. Dean held his hand palm up towards the boy.   
“Oh common Tori, he’s a chump.” Dean stated simply as if that somehow explained itself. But I got over it quickly when I watched a race finish and I won another bet. 

After the races, we were all a little drained from sitting in the sun and cheering for so long so we settled on heading back to the motel to watch some TV. I kicked off my boots and let myself fall back onto my bed, looking at the ceiling. The sound of Jeopardy came from the TV in the boys room.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some Dean POV and a little bit of tear jerking as Dean is reminded of his mother.

— Dean —

I tossed myself on my bed and turned on the TV, nothing was on but Jeopardy so I settled for it. I wasn’t really going to watch anyways, just background sound as I let my mind wander.   
“The Colour Purple” Tori said, all of a sudden from her room. I looked at Sam but he just shrugged and looked in the direction of her voice.  
“What?” I said loud enough for her to hear in the next room.  
“The answer to the question.” She answered, but I still had no idea. What question? She seemed to understand our silence for confusion. “In jeopardy.” She said as she sighed and I heard her roll over on her bed. I looked to the screen to see that she’d correctly answered the question.   
“Well if you’re going to answer the questions why don’t you sit here?” I suggested. Sam got up and closed himself in the bathroom.   
“The Mayflower.” Tori said and I looked to the screen as the contestant answered the question wrong and the host corrected her. Tori had the right answer. She was digging through a bag in her room, the sound of a Ziploc bag being opened and then she appeared in the doorway.   
“How do you know this stuff?” I asked looking up at her. She shrugged and flopped down next to me on the bed.   
“Just pick it up here and there I guess.” She said and propped her knees up. She pulled out some colorful string knotted together at the top and safety pinned it to her jeans. 

Tori had been making those friendship bracelet things since I’d met her. Every once in a while she’d set up somewhere and tie intricate knots with the string making patterns or shapes in the bracelet. I remembered when she’d first come to stay at Bobby’s and she’d sat on the couch quietly, observing everything, the new people she was told she could trust, the house she’d never been in before. She didn’t talk much then, not like she did now where she would almost never shut up. So instead of talking she made the bracelets. Soon enough every time I came back to Bobby’s after a couple of weeks, there would be more bracelets lying about. Bobby used some as bookmarks, she had a small one on her zipper for her jacket, I noticed Ian and West both had one around their wrists. Soon enough Sam had one tied to his backpack. I guess it started to represent how Tori was touching us all, leaving her mark in our lives, knotted bracelets as reminders. The more bracelets found the more Tori started to talk, growing comfortable with her surroundings. 

I remember the time she gave me one. I’d come back from a rough hunt and Dad was mad at me for something that I didn’t know what. I’d been in the back by the mechanical shed, polishing Baby. Tori had come out of nowhere a glass of lemonade in hand and a bracelet hanging out of her closed fist.   
“Warm day.” She’d said and handed me the lemonade. I nodded and accepted the drink, taking a big gulp. Then all of a sudden, she launched off into an explanation about how she was sure I’d noticed the bracelets all over the place and that she’d found out that I didn’t have one and that she thought I needed one. She finished by dangling the bracelet in front of me. It was black with three other shades of green patterned together. I smiled and held out my wrist for her to put it on, Tori had really started to grow on me, she smiled a lot, laughed easily and Sam seemed to enjoy her company so that meant she was good in my books. We needed someone like Tori. Her grey eyes had brightened up so much as she realized I’d wanted her to put the bracelet on and a huge smile spread across her face. She tied the bracelet perfectly, not too tight and not too loose.   
“It matches your eyes, so I guess it was meant for you.” The thirteen-year-old girl said to me, straightening the bracelet so the loose ends fell from the underside of my wrist. I ruffled her hair then and said thank you. She swayed contently on one foot as she waited for me to finish the lemonade.   
“Ahh, that’s good, is there anymore?” I asked after downing the glass and handing it to her. Her smile grew bigger and she placed a hand on her hip and held the glass far away from me.   
“Only if you let me help you clean Baby.” Tori said. I pointed at her while smiling and threw an extra buffing cloth to her and I showed her how to properly polish a car. We did that for a while and even moved to vacuum out the inside, Tori pulling out the car mats and hitting them with a broom while I used the shop vacuum on the inside. At some point she’d turned on the radio and started skipping around while singing to the songs and I couldn’t help but watch her as she batted the mats to the beat. That’s when I knew. Tori was the perfect person to have around. Teaching her to clean cars lead to teaching her about them and how to fix them. She always seemed to appear when she saw me working on Baby, eager to learn what I was doing and how she could do it herself. 

I lost the bracelet a few months later on a hunt and I didn’t even realize it until a few days later. Tori called me about two hours after I’d noticed its absence.   
“Hey Dean, did I ever tell you that when your bracelet falls off you get to make a wish?” Tori had said easily over the phone. No one had told her I’d lost the bracelet, but here she was talking about what to do when I did loose it.   
“Funny you should mention that.” I’d responded shaking my head, Tori had weirdly impeccable timing.   
“Really? Wow. I was just thinking a few hours ago about how I probably never told you and I only got the chance to phone now.” Tori explained. “Anyways, make a wish, Dean.” She finished and hung up before I could respond, I don’t think I’d ever heard her say goodbye in any way, shape or form. 

“Marble.” Tori said, breaking me out of my memory trance. I looked to the TV and sure enough she got the question right. Since I wasn’t interested in the game show I watched Tori tie her knots effortlessly, barely even looking down to see what she was doing and soon enough I saw the pattern start to reveal itself.   
“Watermelon.” I said as she got far enough in the pattern to be able to tell what it was. Her fingers stopped tying and she looked at me and sighed with a smile on her face.  
“Dean, if you think ‘the fruit of the coconut palm tree’ is a watermelon you’ve got some serious learning to do.” she said to me while gesturing her head towards the TV.   
“What? No! The bracelet, it’s watermelon slices.” I said touching the tightly tied bracelet. Tori looked from me to the bracelet to the TV and back at me. Laughter bubbled up out of her and she had to clutch her stomach as she learned forward laughing.   
“Yes, it’s watermelon slices. I thought you were answering the jeopardy question, I was about ready to throw a book at you.” Tori said in between pauses when she had to laugh again. I couldn’t help but laugh with her; Tori’s light happiness was so contagious. We were just on the verge of recovering from our laughter when Sam came out of the steaming bathroom, eyebrows raised.   
“What’s so funny?” he asked, which just made Tori break out into laughter again, which made me laugh again, too. Sam decided to let it go and sat down on his bed. We composed ourselves, Tori’s red face from laughing began to cool down and she held up her long hair to cool her neck. Soon enough Tori was back into tying her knots and watching jeopardy and I was back into watching her tie the knots, mesmerized by how easily and swiftly she did it. I noticed Sam watching too, neither of us had ever done crafts or anything along those lines as kids. Sure we’d done some in the schools that we never stayed long enough in, but never outside of school, Dad never got us anything to create with.   
“Kentucky.” Tori said, answering another question.   
“How do you do that so fast? Like you’re barely looking at what your doing.” I asked, pointing at the bracelet, unable to wrap my head around it. Tori shrugged her shoulders.   
“I’ve done it enough times, I guess. It helps me think because I don’t have to think about doing it. Does that make sense?” Tori explained. “Or I guess you could say its something for me to do that doesn’t require me to think. It’s a good pastime in the car when driving to another state, keeps my hands busy.” Her fingers continued to move as she spoke. Finally she looked up noticing that we were both watching her.   
“Ah, I can teach you guys, if you want.” She suggested, eyebrows raised and a playful smile on her lips. Sam and I cleared our throats and shifted so that we were both watching the TV instead of her. In the corner of my eye I could see that her smile just grew bigger. 

A little while later Tori got up and went to her room. She stuck her head back out at one point though to say something.   
“The Beatles.” She went back into her room as I looked at the screen. Less than a second later the host began to ask the question that Tori had already answered. I frowned and sat up, looking to where Tori disappeared into her room. I looked at Sam to see if he’d seen the same thing, but he’d fallen asleep already. I rubbed my face, thinking I must have imagined it. Climbing into the covers and grabbing the remote to change the channel I heard Tori talking in her room. No, she was singing ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles. Her voice drifted from her bathroom to where I was lying. Tori had a nice voice, that much I’d already learned from hearing her sing around Bobby’s before and in the car on the way here. Ian, West and Tori had gotten their singing from their father. I’d learned this from Ian one day. He said their father would bring out his guitar often after dinner and pluck out song after song, singing as well. The kids were born with singing just like their father and would join in with him whenever the guitar came out. West could even play a little bit of guitar too but I’d never heard him play since he didn’t even have a guitar anymore.   
“Anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain” Tori’s voice continued through the song, never forgetting a lyric, never missing a cue.   
“Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders,” I mouthed the words with her, letting my mind wonder, thinking of Mom. Before my world got turned upside down and I lost my mother to Azazel she used to sing this to me as a lullaby. My eyes started to prick with tears as I continued to listen to Tori singing.   
“For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool, by making this world a little colder.” She left out the nah nah’s just like my mother had and I had to rub my eyes to stop tears from welling up. I listened until she made it to the last line, her voice getting louder as she walked out of her bathroom. “Then you’ll begin to make it better.” The angle from my bed to hers made it possible for me to see her pull back the covers and climb in. She settled on her side and I could just see her face. She looked up at the bedside table to grab her phone, presumably to text her brothers and saw me looking at her. She smiled her sweet smile at me.   
“Goodnight, Dean.” She said and all I could do was nod at her and breathe out a quick ‘night’. I fell asleep easily, dreaming about my mother and her singing my four-year-old self lullabies. 

— Tori —

Everyone slept in this morning because we had nothing better to do, then we went for brunch. It was around one o’clock when I asked the Winchesters a question.   
“So, who wants to come dress shopping with me?” I smile at them but I already knew the answer. Both boys looked at each other with contorted faces, clearly showing their disinterest. Sam just said something along the lines of ‘ah…’ but Dean just looked straight faced at me and said “No.”   
“Fine, but the least you can do is drive me there and then pick me up.” I said to Dean. He got up and dropped some bills on the table and pointed at me.   
“Deal, let’s go.” He said not waiting for Sam and me as he started towards the door. 

They dropped me off agreeing that I’d phone them when I was ready and I walked into the secondhand store. I explained my situation to the woman working there and she guided me to a specific ‘Debutante’ aisle. For a few seconds I just stared at all the dresses. I’d never needed a dress before. Sure I wore the occasional summer dress when we needed to impress some people to help make some money but I’d never even been near a formal dress. Looking at the first one I saw I looked at the price tag and my eyes went wide as I looked at the price staring back at me. I started to freak out a little bit as I wondered if the research I’d done was wrong. The lady who’d shown me the section seemed to see me in distress because she came back over and asked if there was anything else she could help me with.  
“Ah, yeah, I’ve got a budget of only three hundred dollars.” I explained holding a price tag of the dress in front of me showing more than double my budget. She smiled sweetly and lightly held my elbow to guide me to another section. This section was smaller with less options to chose from but I preferred that because I was drowning in choices at the other section. This time the woman stayed with me to help. Her nametag read ‘Donna’.   
“Well as I’m sure you know, a debutante can only wear a white dress.” Donna explained, I nodded having found this in my research. “You also have to wear white gloves that go up over the elbow, which I’m sure you know as well.” Donna further explained, I smiled and nodded. “Now I suppose the only thing I have left to ask is if you would like a strapless dress or a dress with straps?” she asked. I thought of the possibility of fighting witch ghosts so I said I wanted straps, wouldn’t want to be losing my dress while kicking some ghost ass. She then separated a section of dresses all with straps and sectioned it off even more to leave only dresses that would fit me. I looked at the options in front of me and picked an A-line dress with a fuller skirt, thinking of all the weapons I could hide underneath it. It had a sweetheart neckline with sheer material that went up and over the shoulders that also gave the look of a V-neck but still letting the sweetheart come through. When I checked the price tag I was happy to find that the dress only cost two hundred and seventy dollars, leaving some wiggle room for the gloves and some shoes. When I tried on the dress, it fit perfectly. The zipper gliding up easily but still left me snug and in place. Donna pulled out some shorter heeled shoes and when I put them on, the dress length was perfect too. Donna smiled brightly at me in the dress.   
“You’ve never been in a dress like this have you?” she asked and I nodded, my cheeks blushing. “Well, it looks amazing on you. Only,” she placed a finger on her lip. “It’s missing something.” And before I could protest about staying in my budget she turned around to another section of the store in search of something. She came back with a sparkly belt in hand and stood behind me to wrap it around my waist. The belt had beads sewn in making them sparkle as I moved in the dress. It made my tiny waist look even smaller and broke up the dress beautifully. I couldn’t stop looking at it.   
“Beautiful.” Donna breathed.   
“I can’t afford it, Donna.” I said starting to take it off. She put her hands on top of mine, stopping me.   
“No, no, darling, the belt is no charge, I took it off a dress that has a wine stain on it, can’t sell it anyways.” She said and looked at me through the mirror. “Besides, it looks better on you and this dress than it would on anyone else.” My face blushed again and all I could do was smile even bigger.   
Donna entered the dress, the shoes and a pair of gloves into the register with a total that fell right under three hundred dollars. I sighed I sigh of relief and paid in cash. Donna loaded the gloves, belt and shoes in a bag and wrapped the dress in a big zip up white plastic bag, folding the bottom up and looping a whole into the hanger that made it easier to carry. I thanked Donna and started towards the door.   
“Goodbye, sweetheart. Have fun, your date is going to be speechless.” She said to me confidently. I smiled and walked out the door, Sam and Dean were sure going to be speechless. 

I walked across the street to where I’d put down the deposit for the Winchesters’ Tuxedos. Their rentals were an easy fifty dollars each and I called Dean while the lady went to the back to grab the tuxes. Sam had to open to car door for me as I held all the formal wear and climbed in the backseat. I ended up buried under my big dress and the tux’s. Dean turned around and looked wide-eyed at the new cargo.   
“Oh God.” Was all he said and put the car in drive. 

We got back to the motel and Sam had to dig me out from the back seat, grabbing one tux and shoving it into Dean’s chest for him to hold, grabbed the other tux and shoved that into Dean as well. Lastly he grabbed the dress and patted the side of the bag with raised eyebrows.   
“That’s, that’s a lot of dress.” Sam said looking at me as I climbed out of the car, bag of shoes, gloves and belt in hand.   
“Yeah, be happy you’re not the one that has the wear it.” I said walking past him to the room door. Dean scoffed, probably picturing Sam wearing a big poufy dress.

We’d been cooped up in the motel room for hours, save the fifty minutes we took to get some dinner, and I was getting restless. I had tried to do a bit of research about getting Ian’s memory back but started to worry all over again and I couldn’t bring myself to worry about it when I wasn’t with Ian. I spent about five minutes channel surfing before Dean got annoyed and took the remote from me. I left for ten minutes to walk down the street to a dollar store to buy some bobby pins and hairspray I knew I’d need to do my hair up for the ball, and brought back some beer from another store on the way back. I made two bracelets and then ran out of string. Dean took a nap that used about two hours of his time and Sam was perfectly fine reading a book. I hadn’t thought of bringing any books with me, which was weird because I always had some sort of book with me. So I sat with Sam, reading over his shoulder, but quickly grew tired of what he was reading because the ending was too predictable. I stood up and walked around the motel room, opening and closing cabinet doors and closets. I made my way to my room and opened the closet, finding a box on the tall shelf. I stood on a chair to reach the box and pull it down.   
“Yahtzee.” I said loud enough to hear Dean stir awake from his nap.   
“What?” Sam’s voice came from his room. “Did you find something?” I came into the room carrying the box.   
“Yeah, I found Yahtzee.” I said smiling.   
“You know, out of all the times I’ve said Yahtzee, only about thirty percent of the time was I actually talking about the game.” Dean said sitting up and rubbing his eyes, his hair was sticking up oddly on one side. I combed the hair down with my fingers and dropped the box in his lap.   
“Well, we’re playing it now. Because I’m bored.” I said and cleared stuff off of a table. 

The boys were a little reluctant at first but soon enough the smiles started to crawl across their faces and we all got a little bit competitive. That kept us busy for a while because Dean needed to beat Sam and I. We’d end a game with Sam or me being the winner but Dean would take a swig of beer, shake his head and say “Nope, keep going I’m gonna win this time.” he did finally and we laughed about Dean’s fist pump when he won. I looked at the bedside table clock and saw that it was ten thirty. I stood up and clapped my hands together.   
“Let’s go out.” I said looking from one man to the next, and when they didn’t seem to keen I added, “To the bar.” And Dean’s face showed he agreed without having to say anything, Sam just shrugged and stood up. 

We made our way to the bar and I was happy to see that this one had a dance floor with some people actually dancing. God bless Nashville. We settled at a small table and Dean ordered a round of beers. We chatted about everything and anything, me doing most of the talking. I hadn’t really noticed that I was talking a lot until Dean mentioned it.   
“You know, you talk a lot.” Dean said simply and Sam laughed but then reassured me.  
“That’s not a bad thing, Tori, at least what you have to say is interesting.” Sam said putting a hand on my shoulder.   
“Yeah, it’s kind of nice, actually.” Dean said, pausing to take a sip. “Sometimes me and Sam can go three days without having a conversation because we’re together all the time with nothing new to talk about.” He ordered another round of drinks. So with Sam and Dean’s blessing I kept talking. Soon enough I had finished three beers and was about to order some shots when Dean stopped me.   
“Whoa, whoa, there Tori. Don’t you think you’ve had enough? Like look at the size of you, not sure you can handle much more.” He gestured his hand to my body. “What are you? Ninety-five pounds?” I scrunched up my face.   
“I’m a hundred and ten pounds, thank you very much.” I said. “And common, don’t be my brothers, they always stop me at two beers, never let me have any fun, never let me go dancing, meanwhile they get to keep drinking, disappear with a girl for part of the night and guess who has to drive them home after they’ve had too much and she’s only had two beers three and a half hours before. Yeah, me.” I complained and looked down into my empty bottle, resting my head in my hand.   
“I told your brothers I’d take care of you though.” Dean said. “Sam did too.”   
“Oh yeah, because I’m the one that needs to be taken care of.” I frowned, getting a little mad. “That’s great because I have to objectify my body to make the most money between me and my brothers that pays for the rooms, pays for the gas, I’m the one waking them up almost every morning, getting the breakfast, cleaning this, cleaning that, doing most of the research, saving their asses countless times on the job, stitching them up when they do get hurt, shopping for the clothes if they need new ones. Don’t get me wrong, I love them and Bobby and you guys more than anything, Uncle Vince too, when he was alive, but I’m always worried after because I’m the youngest and a girl in a man’s job. Bobby seems to be the only one who understands that I’m not a kid anymore, meanwhile all you guys can think of is sheltering me from everything.” I looked at their faces, Dean’s eyes were wide, his mouth making a small O and Sam had a somber expression. “Don’t think I forgot how young you were when you started hunting. I can take care of myself.” I stood up and rested my hands of the back of my chair. “Now, I’d offer for you guys to come dancing, but I know better.” I turned on my heel and went to the bar and took a shot of tequila, frustrated, and went to the dance floor, right into the middle and busiest part so that Sam and Dean couldn’t see me. 

I found a group of girls who were celebrating a twenty-first birthday, the birthday girl easily found because of the ‘birthday girl’ ribbon that was pinned to her shirt. They were all incredibly drunk but all shouted happily when I was near them, grabbing my hands and pulling me into the middle of their circle. I danced with them for song after song, we took breaks to take some shots and then we went right back to the dance floor. I felt the Winchesters’ eyes on me as I walked back to the dance floor, the birthday girl’s arm linked in mine, mainly because I was afraid she was going to fall, but I didn’t look back at them. Childishly holding on to my annoyance, not at them specifically, but all the young men that ‘took care’ of me. I just wanted a night to let loose, to not be held back by the short leash my family kept me on. But the more shots I took with the girls, the more ashamed I felt for how I’d acted. Sam and Dean didn’t deserve my freak-out; they were simply doing what my brothers told them to. The room was spinning around me and my step became less and less stable, but my thoughts yelled at me for being mean to the Winchesters. 

There was a platform that you could climb up onto and dance, bringing you about three feet higher than everyone else. The girls pulled me up to dance with them up there and it lasted about one song until I saw two Sams coming towards me. I was about to step down towards him but the floor spun below me and I stopped when I knew I’d fall if I tired.   
“Yup, okay, time to go, Tori.” Sam said and easily tossed me over his shoulder, arm wrapped around my legs and my stomach resting over his big shoulder. I didn’t protest, I wasn’t in the mindset to, but I did notice what I was looking at. All I could see was Sam’s lower back and down. Before I even knew what I was doing I tapped Sam’s bum.  
“Nice view.” I said and Sam jumped a little bit, making me laugh. Next thing I new I was in the backseat of Baby and Dean was pulling out of the parking lot. 

Back at the motel I finally felt tiredness coming over me. As soon as the door opened I went to yank off my combat boots but I’d tied the laces too tight to slip them off. Still yanking and failing to remove the shoe I fell onto Dean’s bed. I frowned and stuck my leg up.  
“Can someone…please?” I sighed annoyed at myself now for having too much to drink, I hated asking for help.   
“Well tonight’s been a completely different side of Tori I’ve never seen before.” Sam said walking over, untying my shoes and slipping them off. I grabbed the closest thing to me to pull myself up and it turned out to be Dean’s arm. His hand clutched my arm and pulled me up easily but gently. I walked to my room, changed into my pajamas and lay down on my bed, not bothering with opening the covers. Then the reminder of my freak-out climbed into my thoughts. I had to say sorry. 

Getting up, I stood for a few seconds waiting for the place to stop turning around in circles. It didn’t. Then I strode into the boys room. Sam got up getting ready to send to me back to bed but I just kept walking right up to him and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.   
“Sorry.” I said. “You guys didn’t deserve what I said, all you were doing was what my brothers made you promise. And then I ran off like a child and now look at me.” I felt Sam chuckle and he rested his chin on top of my head.   
“It’s alright, Tori. You’re right, if there’s any girl we know that can take care of herself, it’s you.” Sam said and I squeezed him tighter for a few seconds before letting go and turning to find Dean. I encircled my arms around his midsection and rested my head on his shoulder. Dean held the back of my head with one hand the way he always did when we hugged and his other arm went around both my shoulders.   
“I’m sorry.” I breathed into his shoulder; his hand moved and rubbed my back.   
“Don’t be, I was waiting for the day you’d snap. You do so much for all of us, Tori, and we’re jerks for not trusting you to do what you want to do. Next time, shots are on me.” Dean said and I could hear the smile in his voice in the last sentence. I couldn’t help but laugh.   
“Will you come dance next time too?” I asked still laughing. Dean’s arm loosened and the hand he had on my head slid to my face gently pushing me back, his green eyes looking into my grey ones.   
“Now that,” He said, pausing to tuck loose strands of hair behind my ear. “Is pushing it.” I laughed again as Dean turned me around, his hands on my shoulders guiding and lightly pushing me towards my bed. He pulled back the covers and I crawled into them, then Dean tucked them around me. He went to leave but I grabbed his hand, remembering something.  
“Dean?” I called.  
“Yeah?” he turned and paused looking at my hand holding his.   
“The girls at the bar asked who I came with and when I pointed at you guys, one girl got all excited and grabbed my arm.” I pushed up the sleeve of the arm that still held onto Dean. “She told me to give you her number.” I brandished the black numbers that were marked on the inside of my forearm. Dean pulled my hand up closer to squint at the numbers on my arm.   
“Ah, yeah,” he looked at me “No, thanks.” And dropped my arm.   
“Good,” I said nonchalantly, while pulling my sleeve back down. “She wasn’t a very good kisser anyways.” First, Dean looked as if he didn’t hear me and then,  
“What!?” said both Winchester’s, Sam’s head popped in beside the doorframe just in time to see me break out in laughter while shaking my head a second later. Eventually Sam laughed with me and Dean rolled his eyes and pointed at me.  
“Go to sleep.” He said sternly, but I saw a smile spread across his face as he turned away.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Sam POV of events in the previous chapter and some flashbacks of Sam and Tori getting to know eachother. Fluff.

— Sam —

I thought of Tori as I lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take me. A smile played on my lips as I thought of how different she’d been today. She had started as normal, always trying to keep busy, and never took long to do anything. Finishing one task as timely as possible and moving on to the next. It had only taken her about a half hour to find a dress and another ten minutes to pick up the tuxes. I’d raised my eyebrows, surprised, when Dean’s phone rang, telling us to pick her up. Thinking back on the two or three times I’d gone shopping with Jess, it took her hours to find something she liked, pulling me into store after store. Asking for my opinion when I didn’t have one, I knew nothing of style, ‘as long is it fit’ was my mentality. Tori hadn’t complained by saying she needed an opinion on any dresses, she just marched on into the store determined to get another job done. 

When we’d picked her up and I stuffed her and all the clothes in the backseat she had a look of triumph on her face.   
“Well, that was the first and last time I’ll ever try ball gowns on.” She’d said, her face the only visible thing from the pile of stuff around her.   
“How was it?” I asked, her eyes widened and she puffed out her cheeks.   
“Overwhelming. Never knew you could get so many different shades of white. Shouldn’t white just be white?” she babbled on and on about shades of white, types of fabric and how some of them changed colors in different types of light. I just smiled as I looked out the window; something I liked a lot about Tori was how she could have a conversation with you without needing you to answer. All she wanted was for you to listen. So we all did, Dean and I, Bobby, her brothers, even Dad had sometimes before he died. She captivated everyone by the way she talked, how she described things, how smart she was and above all, how mature she was. We often forgot she was only nineteen.

As Tori continued to talk, I thought of the time I’d first met her. She was thirteen and I was seventeen. At first she didn’t say much of anything at all, just sat there tying knots in bracelets and doing schoolwork, saying hi when people came through the door, asked questions about something supernatural then scribbling it in what I knew as her mothers journal. Then one day, about five days after she’d arrived, we both sat on the couch, me watching TV and Tori frowned over a math problem sitting in her lap.   
“Is this a typo? It has to be a typo. It makes no sense, it’s wrong.” The words flew out of her mouth with frustration as she dropped her pencil and plopped her math book in my lap. “Sam, tell me that’s a typo.” She looked at me and pointed to a section on the page. I read through the page realizing she was studying math from a level higher than her age. Then re-read it to figure out how to do the problem to then find out if there was something weird about the question. I silently took the scrap paper that was still in her lap and looked over the work she had done on the question. I chuckled when I saw what she’d written in at the end of the problem. ‘Haha, what? Nope.’ Knowing the answer she’d gotten wasn’t right. I solved the problem myself, writing it on the same paper and came to a different answer.  
“Victoria,” I started to speak but she interrupted me.  
“Whoa, no,” she laughed. “Sam, don’t call me Victoria, please, it’s just Tori.” She smiled at me and I smiled back.   
“Okay, Tori,” I said already liking how it sounded and felt coming off my tongue, way better than Victoria. From what I already knew of Tori, Victoria was too formal for her tomboyish attitude. “It’s not a typo.” I said and she frowned, obviously, she wasn’t used to being wrong. “Look, you missed a step.” I said comparing hers to mine, identical until the second last step where she’d somehow missed a number. She scooted closer to me, crossing her legs, the jut out of her knees touching my left thigh. She grabbed the scrap paper and looked closer at our different solutions. She smacked a hand to her forehead when she saw that she did make a mistake and then started laughing, leaning her right shoulder on the back of the couch.   
“Turns out I’m the one who made the typo.” She said then thanked me. 

From then on I’d watched her doing the math problems. She did them so fast, barely needing to think about it and every once in a while she’d stop and frown and drop the question in my lap and ask what she’d done wrong. Every time she seemed to forget a number during the fast way she wrote the questions out. She was so smart that the minimal thought it actually took her to solve the question made her miss numbers here and there. So that’s how it went from then on if I was at Bobby’s. Tori would set up her work on the table and I’d sit with her chatting and getting to know her as she worked out the problems. Occasionally I’d have to point out her error and then she’d be off again, flying through question after question. She loved learning so much, absorbing every new thing like a sponge. I got so used to sitting with Tori as she did, not only math homework, but science, English and history too that when my family left on a hunt I began to miss sitting with Tori while I was gone. Sometimes when Tori walked off, curious to see what her brothers and Dean were doing, I’d read the next couple of chapters, refreshing my memory of the schooling I’d already gone through, so that if Tori called me when I was gone, I could still help with her homework over the phone. 

Helping Tori with her work drove me to go back to school, I’d talk to only her about it because no one else around me approved of my idea but her. We’d grown so close over the year that she was the person I felt most comfortable to talk to. She encouraged me to go to Stanford and shrieked jumping up and down, giving me a big hug when I told her I’d been accepted. She made it easier to leave for school because of her encouragement but also made it harder. College meant that I was leaving the family business, putting the supernatural behind me and this meant I’d probably never come back. I didn’t want to leave Tori behind, she had so much potential, she could do something with her life instead of get worn down by the hunting business. When I’d explained this to her she just silently shook her head, said she couldn’t leave her brothers and left it at that, never speaking of it again. The night my family left Bobby’s to go on a hunt, Tori hugged me tighter and longer because she knew that once I helped Dad and Dean solve this case, I was leaving for Stanford. She never said goodbye though, she never said goodbye for anything. 

During the year I’d learned that she thought goodbyes were too final, that you could never see or hear the person again. It had been the last thing she’d said to her parents before leaving with her brothers to swing on the swigs at the park only to come back to see her parents torn up by a werewolf, dead, each brandishing bloody silver knives, and a dead werewolf lying near them. She’d told me the story one night over cups of hot chocolate I’d made for us, not a tear shed, she just stared straight faced into the cup, stirring the melting marshmallows around with her finger. I had wrapped my arm around her small shoulders, Tori just sighed and we’d sat like that for a while, quietly drinking our hot chocolate. 

When I was sitting on the bus that was taking me to Stanford I stared at the colorful strands of the bracelet that Tori had tied onto my backpack. For about an hour I stared at the bracelet, swinging back and forth with every bump on the bus. I even stood up at one point, ready to get off the bus and go back to Dad and Dean, thinking I was stupid for thinking I could just leave them, without a word. But Tori’s voice in the back of my head convinced me to sit back down, to make her proud and move on in life, to learn everything I could learn. So I did exactly that, I went to school and phoned her once in a while to catch up and tell her about my classes. Those were the only times that I spoke more than Tori. She listened over the phone so intently that sometimes I had to stop and ask if she was still on the line, she’d puff into the phone and tell me to keep talking, she’d never hang up until I’d told her all the new things I could think of. 

A year and a half after I’d left for school Tori phoned me to say that she’d gone on her first hunt. My heart broke, she was officially stuck and she didn’t even have any intentions of getting out. She jabbered on contently, saying that she was in the hospital for ‘only twenty hours’ and the doctors thought she was a ‘fast healer’ and that they’d already found another case to work on and that they were already driving to it. My heart broke into smaller and smaller pieces as she continued to speak, I didn’t want this for her, I knew her brothers didn’t want this, as she’d said just as much. I could almost see her smile as she spoke through the phone, finally happy to be allowed to go everywhere with her brothers and the more she spoke the more I felt like innocent little Tori was becoming tarnished by the cruel world. At some point she seemed to understand how much I hated hearing about her hunting, so she stopped talking about the physical part of it. I continued to phone her every few weeks to talk about school and Jess and she’d tell me how everyone else was doing, how she spent a lot of time with Dean learning anything about cars he could teach her when he was around and sometimes threw in some new lore she found but never told me about being out in the field with her brothers. 

When Dean came to get me to help him find Dad, I lost track of time and had so much on my mind that I forgot to phone Tori and she wasn’t pushy enough to phone me, she often let people have their space unless she needed them. So when I saw her at Bobby’s again for the first time after four and a half years I nearly cried as she jumped into my arms. Lifting her up I noticed she’d grown a couple of inches. As I squeezed her tightly I noticed how strong and how muscular she had become from training harder and hunting with her brothers. Her face was a little bit thinner and I noticed a scar on her neck from her first hunt as I put her down. More scars appeared as she’d turned to Dean, a couple on her arms and a few more on her legs. That’s when I noticed that her wardrobe had changed considerably as well. She’d ditched the old board shorts and loose t-shirts for short jean shorts and tight tank tops that hugged the grown up womanly figure she’d grown into. The dark blond hair that she used to keep short, ending at her shoulders and often tucked under a baseball cap, was long, falling at the middle of her back, some strands bleached from the sun. She’d gotten her ears pierced twice per earlobe and two more times towards the top of her ear on her right ear. I had to tell myself to stop staring. In the four years that I was gone, the pretty fourteen-year-old girl I used to know had grown into a beautiful eighteen-year-old woman.

After noticing all the changes I was afraid that she’d grown into someone else, maybe even a Victoria. But the day and a half we spent catching up before Dean and I hit the road again I was relived to know that she was the same old Tori I’d grown so close to years ago. Her favorite baseball cap even made an appearance on her head again. Sure, she was even tougher than before, had a larger arsenal of weapons and dressed differently but her personality hadn’t changed. She laughed and smiled just as easily as she always had, made the same facial expressions, still soaked up knowledge and she still loved everyone unconditionally. She acted as if I’d never left and I could never thank her enough for that. She helped make me feel as if that’s where I was always meant to be, with Dean, Bobby and the Vallens, fighting the good fight. 

That night she came into my room to comfort me about losing Jess. I’d been gone for four years but she never shied from me. Walking right back into the comfort we’d had with each other before I’d left, she grabbed my hand and rested her head right on my shoulder without hesitation. The hole time I couldn’t help but watch as her other arm moved, looking at Jess’ picture to flipping the pages in Dad’s journal, to get a closer look at the new silvery scars on her arms from hunting. My stomach tied itself in knots as I pictured how she might have gotten the scars and I hated that they were there. I hated that the precious girl beside me was getting hurt and getting caught in the middle of danger. I looked down at her realizing that she’d fallen asleep and looked at how peaceful her face was. Four years apart had let us grow into similar but still different people, Tori had grown into an adult while I was gone and seeing her again made me realize that I cared for this girl, more than before, and perhaps much more than I should. 

Tori’s voice coming from the back seat had pulled me out of my thoughts.   
“I’m… yeah I need some help getting out.” And I looked at her in the back, her smiling face beaming from under and around the big dress that sat on her lap. Later on in the day she’d become restless having no more jobs to do and wandered around from her room to Dean’s and mine. I watched as she did research on her computer and noticed when she had to stop, rubbing her eyebrow like she did when she was stressed. I listened to her sigh and ruffle through a plastic bag and quietly say ‘boo’, sticking out her bottom lip when she ran out of string to make bracelets. Then she sat behind me, reading over my shoulder for a bit but quickly grew tired of it and I smiled, wondering for the hundredth time since I’d met her that maybe she was ADD/ADHD. I knew that she couldn’t focus on anything that required minimal attention recently because she worried about Ian, she worried about what had happened to him and why it had happened. It was too quiet for her with Dean napping and me reading, unable to distract her thought with other noise. Seeing her bored and stressed was not something I was used to so I was about to offer going for a walk right before she found Yahtzee. I breathed a sigh of relief when she found something to do that required Dean and I. Tori wasn’t good at being on her own, she needed people to talk to, interaction was what kept her going, it was probably the main reason why she talked so much. She had so many different thoughts that went on in her head that she needed to say them aloud.

Lying in bed I realized that her restless behavior in the motel is what had led to her outbreak at the bar. Tori wasn’t one to complain, but she also wasn’t afraid to point out that she’d done something to get something else in return from someone else, like she did to Dean and his food on a constant basis. She’d complained at the bar, though, probably because she’d been left to think about her brothers too long in the silence of the motel room. Stressing about them for too long wore her down and all she’d wanted from a night at the bar was to forget about them for a while. The second Dean said that we’d promised to take care of her, I saw her jaw clench and her light grey eyes turned a shade darker, I knew something was about to happen. My heart sank when she talked about objectifying herself for money and when she mentioned some of the dozens of things she did that made other people’s lives easier. Her outbreak made me think of all the things she did for me that I never thought of thanking her for. When she reminded us that we had started hunting younger than her made Dean and I look at each other and realize that she was nineteen and had the maturity and smarts of someone much older. Her grey eyes stormed, the color of dark grey rain clouds when she finished by saying she could take car of herself, the truth in her words rang in my ears. Tori could take care of herself. 

Dean and I had both watched her storm off to take a shot and then down onto the dance floor before we spoke.   
“Well, she’s right.” I’d said, swirling the beer in my bottle.   
“Then why are you watching after her like she’s a toddler who’s just learned to walk?” Dean asked looking at me.   
“Because, she’s Tori.” I shrugged and looked back at him. “And you do it too, Dean.” I countered. He leaned back on his chair and looked to where Tori had disappeared onto the dance floor, confirming my statement. We let her cool down on her own and chatted about nothing, taking turns on keeping an eye on her as she danced and drank and danced some more with the crazy girls who seemed to have adopted Tori as their new best friend. We watched as Tori’s steps became less and less stable later into the night and mumbled to each other about how far we’d let her go before stopping her. We both raised our eyebrows when she climbed up onto the platform but didn’t go to stop her until Dean pointed out a group of guys who had noticed the young girls on the platform, Tori being one of them. They pointed at the girls, nodding and smiling at each other and started to make their way across the dance floor towards Tori. I stood up at the same time that Dean spoke.   
“Not happening.” He said and I made my way to the platform and swiped Tori before the boys could come near her. I felt calm and reassured again, feeling Tori’s weight over my shoulder, knowing she was safe from stupid boys with bad intentions. And when she slapped my butt I knew she wasn’t mad at Dean or me or anyone. All she’d needed tonight was a break. I smiled as she got out of the car back at the motel and her steps zigzagged to the door. Tori would never let her guard down and drink that much unless she trusted the people she came with. Dean and I had her back and she knew it, even surrendering, in her drunken stupor, to ask someone to help her. Which was a big deal because Tori never asked for help; she was the one who often got asked to help. I smiled even bigger when she came back from her room to say sorry because Tori was the last person who needed to be saying sorry. I hugged the petite five-foot-three girl in my arms, thinking that I’d be content if we stayed like that for hours. 

I watched as Dean hugged her too, holding her head like the precious object she was to us and I thought of how Dean would never admit it, but that Tori was the sister he’d always wanted. I had been so happy to hear from Tori over the phone while I was gone that her and Dean had grown closer; it made me feel better that she wasn’t as alone without me there. Dean loved her for being just as tough as him, she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself and he could relate to her. I knew he loved teaching her how to polish a car and later teaching her how to fix them. His face would be so proud as Ian or West told a story of waking up in the car in the middle of the night on the side of the road, the hood of the car open and there would be Tori, tool box at her feet, flashlight between her teeth, fixing whatever engine problem they had, getting them back on the road in no time. He’d clap her on the shoulder, praising her and watch as she acted like it was no big deal. But it was for Dean, he’d taught her something that she couldn’t learn in all the lore books she read. He loved how she knew almost as much about cars as he did and that she got just as much joy from driving fast as he did. But most of all, he loved her for her, for being unlike any other girl we’d ever met. There was just something about Tori, something that made her really special. 

I rolled over in bed and thought of the other night, how close she’d come to me in her sleep. How I wanted her to be that close right now. I was afraid she’d been worried that I hadn’t been comfortable with sleeping in the same bed, but in reality I had to stop myself sometimes. More often then not I wanted to touch her cheek when she smiled, wanted to tuck the loose strands that escaped her ponytail or braid behind her ear. Sleeping in the same bed as her had been hard because I was all too aware of how good I thought she looked in her worn plaid pajama pants and baggy Johnny Cash t-shirt.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys marvel at how done up Tori can get. Some POV from Ian.

I opened my eyes and rolled over to look at the clock on the bedside table just as the three digits turned to read eight o’clock. We didn’t have anything to do until I had to start getting ready for the ball at three so I was about to roll over and go back to sleep. But the smell of warm bread and coffee stopped me, making me sit up in bed. Remembering how I’d acted the night before made me nervous to show my face again. I still felt ashamed even though I’d apologized. As if on cue, Sam popped his head through the door.  
“Oh good, you’re up,” his smile managed to reassure me that I could show my face again today. “Come get some breakfast before Dean eats it all.” So at that I threw the covers off and bounced out of bed, following my nose into their room. Dean looked over at me with a mouth full of bagel BELT and shook a bottle of Aspirin in my direction. I felt surprisingly fine considering how much alcohol I’d had last night, but to think of it, I’d never been hung over no matter how drunk I’d gotten the night before on the little amount of times my brothers had let me have more when we were hanging low in a motel.  
“Nope, don’t need those.” I said but put my hand to my stomach when it growled at me. “I do, however, need this.” I said and grabbed the last bagel BELT that was still wrapped in paper. I sat eating for a bit until I spoke again without thinking.  
“Sorry again guys.” I said guiltily not looking at them and examining my sandwich like it was the most interesting thing. The bed stooped down beside me and Sam wrapped my free hand around a cup of black coffee.   
“Tori, that’s enough, you don’t have to say sorry for anything.” Sam said and Dean grunted around a mouthful of food, agreeing. I leaned over until my temple rested on Sam’s shoulder and whispered ‘thanks’, then finished my bagel. 

Dean spent about half and hour going over and over the types of weapons we wanted to bring to the ball that he could discreetly hide in his tux. His favorite pistol with ivory grips was too big to conceal in his fitted tux and I could tell he hated that. At least he’d gotten the tux on though and I wouldn’t have to force him into it later. I laughed slightly as he paced across the room buttoning and unbuttoning his shirt trying to figure out where he could hide things. Sam and I went over the floor plans looking for ways to get to the possible locations of the ‘trophies’ without being noticed. 

A few hours later and a late lunch I made my way to my room to get ready. I wanted to give myself plenty of time, I’d never really done anything else to my hair other than braid it or occasionally curl it since my brothers claimed it made me more money at the bar. I researched a couple of updos that were supposed to be easy and started by taking a shower. Halfway through my stomach started to get knotted, I was worried I’d ruin everything tonight, that I’d look totally wrong and get us caught and thrown out. Apart from that, I had to act like a ridiculous Debutante, and I had no idea how to do that, male hunters had raised me since I was eleven. I turned the tap hotter, trying to relax my tense muscles. After about fifteen minutes in the shower, ten minutes longer than usual, I managed to prep talk myself that I could do this. If I could hunt monsters people could never even imagine, I could act like a normal girl in a fancy dress. 

The process of shaving my legs seemed to calm me down and applying the same type of lotion my mother used made me feel confident. Thinking of my mother pushed me to put a housecoat on and pull a chair into the bathroom and blow-dry my hair—something I never did—with the crappy motel hair dryer. I decided to start with my makeup, since I had more experience in the matter. Once I was confident that my eye-shadow, eyeliner, blush and mascara was identical to the picture I’d pulled up on my laptop, I moved to my hair. I brushed it while humming ‘She’s Always a Woman to Me’ by Billy Joel. Eventually my humming turned to singing as I sectioned off my hair and started curling it, careful not to burn myself. Eventually I noticed how funny it was that this was the song that came to mind as I got ready. My face turned red as I thought of the boys in the next room, probably laughing at what I was singing. I sang the last line and easily moved onto another one. ‘The Weight’ by The Band effortlessly came to me, the first song I remember Dad teaching my brothers and me. This time, however, the song fell short for me, wishing my brothers were with me to harmonize mindlessly as they went about doing their business. So I didn’t dwindle on that one long and played a playlist on my computer to sing along to. 

I looked at myself in the mirror, genuinely surprised that the hairstyle I wanted to achieve actually happened and looked like the picture. Somehow I’d managed to pin up the curled locks of hair on the back on my head, I had braided the hair closer to my forehead to the sides of my head above my ears and wind the braids around the pinned up curls. Everything was so secure with bobby pins and the braids; I was confident that if there was some physical fighting tonight, my hair wouldn’t fall out and get in my way. I sprayed everything with hairspray and smiled at myself in the mirror. I felt pretty. With about ten minutes to spare before we had to leave, I pulled the dress out of the bag and touched the fabric. The knots reappeared in my stomach; I never got a prom, or any chance to wear a fancy dress. My first reaction was sadness to the thought, but then I realized that I’d never dreamed of prom or getting married or anything, so the sadness quickly drained away and a smile replaced it, I don’t think I wanted any of those things. Hunting and saving lives was what I was good at, research too, no, I didn’t want to settle down with a husband, or have kids. At least, not for a really, really long time. 

I fought with the zipper on the back of the dress for a while, too stubborn to ask for help, and laughed at the zipper quietly and triumphantly as I finally got it up.   
“Tori, we have to go soon.” Sam voice came from the other room.   
“Yeah, yeah, I’m ready just one sec.” I said as I pulled on the second glove. I took one last look at myself in the mirror, making sure everything was in place. Hair, check, makeup, check, shoes, check, gloves, check, dress, check, and belt, check. I checked over my weapons. A knife and my favorite Zippo hidden in my top with my phone, two guns, another knife, and extra bullets all strapped to my legs, easily hidden under the large skirt.   
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road” I said as I walked through the door. “Oh, don’t you boys look handsome! You guys have some salt right?” I asked but when neither of them answered me I looked from one Winchester to the next. The boys had the same expression on their face, slack jaws and slightly wider eyes than usual.   
“What?” I asked then looked down at myself. “Is something backwards?” I touched my face. “Is there something on my face?” But I found nothing and placed both palms up pointing towards them. “Well, what?” I asked again, a little firmer then before. The Winchesters seemed to snap out of it and Sam was the first to speak, clearing his throat first.  
“You—ahem—you look beautiful, Tori.” He said and looked down at his shoes, his eyes creeping back up, taking in the skirt of the dress, the belt, the top and then my face again. My face got warm as he did.   
“We, ah…let’s take a picture!” Dean said, and I laughed, thinking he was joking because Dean never said that kind of thing. But when he started to prop his phone on the table and usher us towards the square patterned wallpapered wall I realized he was serious. Once placed, Dean pulling me in the middle with Sam on my left, he ran to the phone to hit the timer and quickly came back to stand on my right. We smiled and the phone clicked. Dean checked the picture and when he decided he was satisfied, showed it to Sam and I. Three smiling faces looked at me through the picture and I couldn’t help but stare at it for a few seconds, I almost couldn’t recognize myself.   
“You really do look great, Tori.” Dean said, taking my attention away from the photo. I smiled and felt my face grow hot again.   
“That’s not even the best part.” I said. “You should see all the weapons I can hide in this dress.” They laughed and nodded, ushering me out the door while I listed the items I had hidden in my dress and how there was no way anyone was going to tell. Sam had to help me stuff my dress into the car and laughed when he saw the big dress sprayed out around me, nearly covering the whole back seat with white fabric. 

 

—Ian—

It was way too quiet when Tori wasn’t around. She had only been gone a few days and I was going a little crazy with the absence of her. I was lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling with nothing to do, wishing I could hear Tori singing as she fixed herself some food or something. I missed her easy chatter, talking all the time about everything and anything. I missed hearing her read out some new lore she found. She would read something she thought was interesting out loud to no one in particular. She did it simply to say it and for whoever happened to hear. Questions kept circling around in my head. Where was she? What was she doing right now? But more importantly, was she safe? I knew I could trust Sam and Dean to look after her, heck, they were basically our brothers, they were family. But for the first time, Tori was the one away on a hunt and West and I were the ones stuck doing nothing. As the days past and all I could think about was Tori, I started to understand why Tori hated being left behind, hated not being by our sides. Your mind started wandering in its boredom, imagining crazy things that could go wrong to the people who were away from you. The ceiling fan ticked every once in a while. This was ridiculous; I was acting like she’d been gone for months.

“You hungry?” West asked, coming from nowhere, I shrugged. I almost felt lost without my sister. She never asked if I was hungry, she just knew when I was and wordlessly put food in front of me. Tori just knew things and it was freaky sometimes. She seemed to remember every single thing she read and sometimes predicted things to happen that usually did. Long conversations in the car with West often came to the conclusion that we thought she was psychic. She’d always done it but it grew to be more and more often as she got older. We’d be in the car and she would blurt out that I needed to slow down, that there was a deer on the road around the bend. She would say it like it was common knowledge, like she didn’t think anything of what she said, sometimes look at us like she thought we should all know such things. She predicted the weather, and not just the day the weather would come but the minute the rain would start, or how long it would last. She went about her predictions like she thought everyone had them, that they were normal but she was the only one saying it out loud. Every time she did it I’d smile, my sister was so special to me and West already, this ability of hers made her extra special and I’d never admit it to her, but it had saved West’s or mines ass once in a while. One time we where searching for a Rugaru that was tearing up the town. I was about to open the door to an old shed but she stopped me.   
“Ian,” she’d whispered to me. “Dodge left when you open that” I just nodded and went to open the door, dodging left, just as a booby trap rigged with a swinging axe came down that could have cut my head clean off if I hadn’t moved in the right direction. We both stared at her after that for a few seconds, hearts thumping in our chests, but she seemed unfazed, like she thought we expected all tool sheds to be booby trapped for some reason. 

“Ian, you should eat.” West said, taking me out of my memory trance. I got up and followed him to the kitchen, Bobby was on the phone so we didn’t speak and disrupt him. I scrunched my face when West put a salad in front of me. Sam and West had the same eating habits, meanwhile I liked the same things as Dean. That made me think of Tori again because she called Dean and I twins a lot. When she first said it, we didn’t see it, but as time progressed, Dean and I ended up liking a lot of the same things, we sometimes caught ourselves having the same reactions; we had the same hair style, coincidentally, that neither of us wanted to change as we’d both had them since we were young. We listened to the same music, wore similar clothes. West had gathered my stuff once from the laundry at Bobby’s and grabbed some of Dean’s clothes by accident, thinking they were mine. We even had the same build, same height and same green eyes. We looked like we could be actual brothers. West had noted that in the car one day that we looked like brothers and Tori had quietly said in the backseat that maybe we were. The thought didn’t last long though; we didn’t like the possibility of Mom and John Winchester together, even though they had known each other as hunters and that it could have happened. 

I stabbed the salad leaves and stuffed them in my mouth mechanically, letting my mind wander. Trying to remember, for the hundredth time, what Mom had tried to tell me, even though Tori had told me to wait. Two phones went off, indicating a text had been received. West pulled his out as I realized my text tone had gone off too. We looked up at each other seriously as both of our phones indicated a text from Dean Winchester. My mind raced, wondering if something was wrong. We opened the texts and realized it was a sent photo. Three faces smiled at me from the screen. I saw West relax in his chair in the corner of my eye as I saw a smile creep across his face too. Sam and Dean were all dressed sharply in tuxedos and Tori was in a beautiful white gown, her hair all done up and her makeup was done too. I almost didn’t recognize her, my already beautiful little sister looked breathtaking in her ball gown, something she’d never worn in her whole life. My eyes pricked in the corners, I wished I was there to see her for real, I wished she had a chance to go to a prom, I wished she wasn’t stuck in this hunting life. I wanted more than anything for her to be safe, to find someone good that she could marry one day, that could make her secure in life, far from ever having to bus tables at a dingy bar, flaunting her body to make bigger tips. I sighed and saved the photo into my phone, Tori would never leave even if I tried to make her. She loved hunting, she was really good at it, almost too good, and that scared me. West touched my arm, making me look up at his smiling face.  
“I think she’s doing just fine, Ian.” He said, squeezing my arm before letting go and looking at the picture again. He stood up all of a sudden.  
“I’m going to print this, Tori’s going to love having one in the cars album.” West said, referring to the photo album we kept with us in the car. The album had pictures of Mom and Dad, us as kids, a picture of our old house and Uncle Vince. As our life progressed, so did the pictures, the Winchesters made their way into the album, Bobby too, and a few pictures of different landmarks we would come across while driving from state to state for hunts. Each one had the three of us in front of whatever the landmark was, Tori growing older in each one, sometimes I forgot how much she’d changed since she was eleven until I found the album in the backseat, Tori leaving it open to the newest addition. I’d flip through it for a bit letting myself remember, Tori marked every single picture with the date and place making it easier for the memories to come back. West pulled at my sleeve telling me to come with him because I needed to get out of this house and do something. I got up and texted Dean back as I followed West out the door.   
'Someone kiss her head and hug her for me.'


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to kick some ghost butt. Some classic protective Dean. POV's from Tori and both Winchesters.

Dean parked the car outside Union Station and we stood outside the car for a few minutes, going over how this was going to work. Dean’s phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket to check it. Putting it back in his pocket, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head, like he’d done a bunch of times before, but this one was a little random. So I looked at him with a questioning smile, Dean just smiled back at me.   
“Oh, thanks Ian” I said, all of a sudden realizing that the message Dean had gotten must have been from my brother. 

We all seemed to take a deep breath together and then started walking up to the front entrance, show time. My heart fell a little bit as we walked through the door and a bunch of walk through metal detectors stood between us and the rest of the hotel. All too aware of the weapons each one of us had concealed. My thoughts raced and I quickly came to a way to solve the problem.   
“Give me that invitation, Sam,” I said, “I’m going first.” He handed to invitation to me, but his face still read concern.   
“Um, have you forgotten the arsenal of weapons you just told us you had on you?” He said quietly out of the side of his mouth. I shook my head, pulled them closer to me and whispered to both of them.  
“Once I’m through, and I distract everyone, just walk beside the metal detectors, not through, swiftly, and no one will notice.” I let go of them and marched right up to the guard and handed him my invitation. “Those two handsome boys are with me.” I said, gesturing to Sam and Dean while giving my sweetest smile and adding a slight southern accent, trying to fit right into the Nashville crowd. The security guard looked over the invitation and accepted it as I looked around at the crowd of other people filing up to go through the detectors.   
“Alright, Miss, please step through the detector here.” Said the guard and I did what I do best, I started babbling.   
“Oh my lord, this thing is going to go off on me, they always do for no reason.” I said waving my hands around still keeping the accent. “My dress has metal bars in it too, to keep the structure of the top all in place, the dressmaker poked herself while adjusting it for me and she started bleeding! Bless her heart! That woman was too good to me.” I walked through the metal detector and it beeped at me like I knew it would. “See? What did I tell ya? These dresses and their metal, I tell you, the things we do for beauty.” I finished smiling bright at him again. The guard just smiled back at me and nodded.  
“Alright Miss, you have a good night, now.” He said gesturing for me to go on ahead. I did a small little curtsy.   
“Why thank you sir, I sure will. Thank you for working security too, sure makes me feel safe.” I said and I saw his ears turn a little red. That went well I thought, now I had to get Sam and Dean through, they couldn’t claim to have metal in their costumes. I walked up to the edge of a large fancy rug that was about two feet away from the detectors and pretended to trip on it. I let myself fall down onto my knees letting out an ‘oh my’ as I fell. The security guard rushed towards me to help me up and I saw as Sam and Dean slipped between the detectors pretending to be concerned for me and appeared beside me as the security guard helped me up.   
“Are you alright, Miss?” the guard asked and I touched my cheek, pretending to be flustered as he still held the hand he’d helped me up with.   
“Oh my, yes, I can’t see my feet when I wear this gown, tripped on the rug. Thank you, sir… what’s your name?” I said as the guard gave my hand to Sam who then placed it around his arm.   
“Name’s Jed, Miss.” He answered and I used my other hand to shake his.   
“Pleasure meeting you, Jed, and thank you again.” I said, Jed nodded at me and looked from Sam to Dean.   
“Y’all take care of her tonight.” He said, shaking their hands as well, they both nodded and we turned to get on our way. Dean took my other arm and linked it in his and patted my hand.  
“Metal in dresses.” He said while shaking his head, Sam and I laughed and I shrugged.   
“Well, it worked better than a well oiled tractor.” I said, teasing them in the southern accent.  
“No, Tori, your charm worked.” Sam said “He couldn’t take his eyes off of you from the second you walked through the door to the time he had to look away to shake our hands.”   
“Yeah,” Dean said and looked behind us back at Jed. “He still keeps looking every few seconds. I think he loves you.” I elbowed in him the side.  
“Shut up.” I said but laughed anyways. 

We found ourselves in the main large room, table after table was set up with more cups and utensils per person than I would ever know what to do with. A waiter walking around with champagne offered some to us and Dean grabbed us each a glass.  
“Dean,” Sam said disapprovingly “We’ve got stuff to do.”   
“It’s champagne, Sam, how many times have you had champagne?” Dean asked taking a sip from his glass then licked his lips. I took a sip and raised my eyebrows.   
“Whoa, I like this. When we’re done tonight, I’m sure as hell having another glass.” I said taking another sip.   
“Yeah, yeah, just don’t run off dancing with any crazy girls again.” Dean said and started scoping the area out.   
“Then I guess you’ll have to dance with me.” I said challenging him. He downed his glass, put it down on a random table and clapped his hands together.   
“Not going to happen. Alright, let’s get to work.” Dean said. 

Sam went by himself to check out the janitors closet and another room that was close by. They wouldn’t let me go anywhere on my own so I was stuck with Dean to check out the staircase and another service closet, neither of them likely to be where we’d find anything I thought, but we had to look anyways. Thankfully, once past the entrance it was easy to get anywhere within the hotel, many of the hallways were empty as most of the staff and all the guests were at the ball. We started with the closet, Dean picking the lock easily and closing the door behind us. We checked everywhere, the shelves, the boxes on the shelves, behind selves, moving buckets and mops around. We didn’t have to check the floor as it was solid cement. I tried to put myself in Kenneth’s position, where would I hide my gruesome trophies? Somewhere out of sight but still easily accessible. Dean and I started knocking on the walls, looking for hollow spots that could conceal a box. After about an hour and a half of searching the small five ten foot closet we decided nothing was there, and something was telling me we were right. 

So we started making our way to the staircase, taking a shortcut through a hallway that had a sign telling us not to enter and another indicating that it was under construction. We walked right past it into the hallway without a further glance and never came across any construction. At some point my skin tingled and told me someone was coming near us. Something told me it was a security guard who, if he caught us, would bring us back to the ball and have us watched for the rest of the night. So without a second thought I tried a door, luckily it came open, unlocked, and dragged dean in with me, closing the door.   
“What the—” Dean said but stopped when I held a finger up to my lips.   
“There’s a security guard coming.” I explained in a whisper. Holding my ear close to the door to listen.   
“How do you know? I didn’t hear anything? And how do you know it’s a security guard?” Dean asked his eyes crinkling in the corners.   
“I don’t know, Dean. I just do.” I said, I really had no way of explaining it. He looked out the eyehole in the door to watch for who was coming, while I listened with my ear on the door.   
“Seven seconds, coming from the left.” I said. Dean watched through the eyehole in the direction I told him. Seven seconds when by.   
“Psychic.” Dean muttered under his breath and I smiled because I knew Dean saw the guard coming from around the corner we were walking towards. 

We made it to the steps and both blew air from our mouths when we saw how big it was, five floors up, the stairs went around and around and around leaving a square view to the ceiling all the way at the top.   
“How are we even going to find something in all these steps?” Dean asked rubbing his face.   
“I don’t know, let’s just hope Sam finds something before long.” I said, “I’ll start at the top.” I started up the stairs before Dean spoke.   
“I don’t even know what to look for.” Dean said, his tone leaning on the side of a complaint.   
“Tares in the carpet big enough to lift it, loose base board, creaky floor boards. I could keep going but I know you know better, Dean.” I said chiding his complaint a little bit and hiked my skirt up to run up the stairs. 

As I neared the top, the temperature changed drastically, goosebumps appeared on my arms and legs as my breath escaped in a cold dissipating cloud.   
“Dean” I called down as I pulled out a pistol and an iron dagger.   
“What?” he said as I looked over the railing at him, five floors below he had his head down, poking areas of the carpeted steps.   
“It’s cold up he—” I didn’t finish what I was saying because when I looked back up again, there they were. Ten ghost witches, staring at me, all adorned with different jewelry depicting witchcraft and I noticed quickly that they all wore gold pins of an ancient symbol that translated to the English word ‘virgin’. I went to squeeze the trigger but nothing happened, I couldn’t move my fingers. I thought of Dean all the way down the stairs and how he fit the description of who they wanted to kill. They hadn’t seemed to notice him yet and that confused me, why weren’t they attacking me? Usually anyone who disturbed a ghost was bound to be thrown across the room at some point, but they just stared at me.   
“Tori, I can’t hear you, what did you say?” Dean said, his voice caught the witches’ attention and they looked down at him. I tried to shoot again but I couldn’t move, my arms and legs were stiff, paralyzed. 

 

—Dean—

I looked up the stairs when Tori didn’t answer me. Her arm was outstretched holding a gun and her other hand was holding a dagger but from all the way down here I couldn’t see what she was aiming at.   
“Dean, I can’t. I can’t move.” Tori said her voice was clearly distressed, afraid, a tone I’d never heard from Tori. I didn’t think any further, pulling out my gun; I started running up the stairs. When I got to one corner of the stairs I could see three of the ten witches standing in front of her.   
“Shoot Tori! Can you at least shoot?!” I yelled still running up the steps, shooting a few bullets myself, but it felt like it was taking forever to get up there and none of my bullets came in contact with any witches.   
“Already thought of that, Dean.” She said, at least she wasn’t too scared to sass me, I thought. So I shot again, hitting one of the three witches I could see and moved on to the next one as the first one I hit dissolved into dust.   
“DEAN!” Tori screamed all of a sudden and then she was gone, along with the witches, vanished into thin air.   
“Tori!” I yelled and kept running “Tori! TORI!” but she was gone, and I had no idea where. 

I called Sam and he answered when I got to the top where Tori had vanished.   
“Sammy, you have zero minutes to find those trophies.” I said as I scanned the room for anything.  
“Why? What’s wrong?” Sam asked urgently.  
“They took Tori.” I said as I pulled out my EMF meter.   
“WHAT?! Who? Who took Tori?” he asked, clearly just as stressed as I was already.   
“The Witches, Sam. The freaking witches.” I said waving my meter around looking for a trail to follow.   
“What? Why? How come nobody shot them before they could? How did they even catch Tori? She’s so fast.” Sam’s questions where like punches to my gut, I was mad at myself, I should have been the one to go to the top, not Tori.  
“They had her in some magic body voodoo lock thing, I don’t know, Sam! She couldn’t move and when I shot at them it didn’t even phase the rest because there’s so many of them.” My EMF went cold at every corner of the room. “Son of a bitch!” I angrily pushed the antenna down and stuffed the meter back in my pocket.   
“Wait, why did they take Tori when you fit the description?” Sam asked and I kicked the wooden railing.   
“How the hell would I know?” I said. Tori, Tori, Tori, Tori, her name went over and over in my head. “Just find the stupid trophies and light them up while I tare this place apart and find Tori.” I said and hung up. 

I tried calling Tori’s phone knowing it was no use and rubbed my face when it went to her voicemail. I took a deep breath. Think, Dean, think.   
But I had no idea, this place was huge, I didn’t even know where to start. Why didn’t they come after me? I fit the bill perfectly. My phone rang.   
“Find it?” I asked Sam.   
“No. But do you know where they keep finding the dead men every ten years since the renovations?” Sam asked me.   
“No. Is that important?” I asked frustrated and unsure of why Sam needed to talk about this now.   
“Main floor, room 110. Maybe that’s where the witches perform their ritual.” Sam explained. I hung up without a word and raced down the stairs, room 108 was the room Tori and I hid in from the guard. 110 must be in the same hallway, we didn’t come across construction because there was none, the hotel blocked it off for the anniversary of the deaths. Everything fell into place. That’s why there was a guard too. I wanted to slap myself for not wondering about it earlier.   
“Hold on, Tori, big brother’s coming.” I said into the quiet of the hallway and over the sound of my racing heart. 

 

—Tori—

"Hold on, Tori, big brother’s coming."   
I heard Deans voice.  
“Dean?” I called as I opened my eyes. I quickly found that he wasn’t there as I saw all ten witches standing in a circle around me as I sat in a chair in the middle of a normal hotel room. Their virgin pins seemed to bore into me, leaving the gold symbol burned on my retinas as I looked around.   
“What do you want?” I tried asking them, but ghosts weren’t good at talking. I tested my fingers to see if I could move them. I almost cried with joy when they did. I tested my arms while keeping my eyes on the witches, those moved too. I didn’t understand why. Why had they taken me and not attacked Dean? Why were they letting me move now? They didn’t look at me angrily either, just looked at me. I stood up slowly muscles ready to get into fighting mode if they tried anything on me. One woman who seemed to be the leader, dressed in a late 1800s style dress. Her skirt was full with a bustle in the back, her corset gave her a flattering figure and I thought she would have been beautiful if her skin and clothes hadn’t become ratted and rotten from being a ghost. I sucked in a sharp breath when she began to walk towards me. I reached for the knife that was in my top but found nothing, not even my favorite Zippo. Her arms outstretched before her and she came right up to me, her hands resting on the left strap of my dress. Then, nothing. she removed her hands and I looked down at my body scared at the thought of some witch ghost disease or something. She’d put a pin on my strap, the same virgin one they all wore. Then everything made sense to me. 

 

—Dean—

I knew exactly how to get to room 110 but it seemed to take forever to run down the hallways. Eventually I stopped to rethink, had I taken a wrong turn? Starting at a walk I followed the numbers that were counting down to where I needed to be. 197, 196, 195 turn right down the hallway and then, I stopped in my tracks. The first door on the hallways I turned down was numbered 197. I stuck my head around the corner to look to where I came from; the last door read 195. As if my heart could beat any louder or faster than it already did, it picked up its pace a bit more, the sound of blood rushing in my ears. Going back into the hallway I came from, I took a left instead only to find the same numbers on the doors. Damn witches. Their magic was making me go in circles. 

I kicked in the door closest to me, not waiting to pick the lock and walked right up to a window. Throwing it open I went to jump out and find a different way to Tori, but when I lifted my foot to put it out the window, it hit something. Nothing. An invisible barrier prevented me from getting out the window.   
“No, no, no!” I said while kicking the invisible barrier with all my strength. “Tori.” I said her name, almost chanted it, encouraging me to keep going, to keep thinking. “Witches.” I said out loud and shaking my head at the barrier. Then a thought came into my head, clear as day and I wanted to kick myself in the ass for not thinking of it earlier. Hex bags. I ripped out of the room and went straight to a wall planter that was in the hallway, nothing. I moved on to the next. I had to try four wall planters before finding a hex bag.   
I left it flaming on the carpet as I ran towards the next hallway and let out a short laugh when the numbers started going down again. 194, 193, 192. 

—Sam— 

I had been tearing through the closet with as much speed as I could after Dean’s call. With every heartbeat, Tori’s name repeated in time with it. I went through every box and pulled the shelving units out of the closet to get to the wood paneled floor underneath. Every few minutes a train would roll by on the tracks right outside and everything would shake a little bit, conducting a music score for the situation. It drove me crazy. Why Tori? Why did they want her? I felt good to know that Dean was on his way to her but there was a thought in the back of my mind, what were the witches doing to her in the meantime? 

 

—Tori—

The witches were protecting me. The strange thought rang in my head. They had seen Dean, fitting the description of their murderer and had seen me, a virgin in need of protection from Dean. I almost laughed, because it was ridiculous. About two seconds after she put the pin on me, I’d pieced it together in three seconds, one second after that I bolted out of the circle towards the door. I didn’t get very far, I guess they were finally mad at me because my body was thrown back from the door to slide in the carpet, giving my shoulder blade rug burn and my dress to scatter all around me. I wasn’t giving up that quickly. I checked my legs for anything, a gun or a blade and smiled when I found the iron blade I’d put on my thigh. Ghosts couldn’t touch iron. Jumping back up on my feet, which was surprisingly difficult in the ball gown I wore, I charged at the first witch I saw. I managed to stab her with the iron, disintegrating her; it would only last for a little while though, before she came back. I spun on my heel to attack another one but I was thrown back again this time my face hit a coffee table and had to take a second to gather myself again and get up. Warm liquid ran down my face and I touched it, my fingers came away with blood.   
“Awe hell no.” I said eyeing up the next one, but they never charged me, only attacked when I did. I put my knife down; it wasn’t any fun fighting ghosts if they didn’t want to fight back. Apparently, the only way I was going to get out of this room was if Sam found the box and burned it. But then I remembered that they were witches and started walking around the room slowly, looking for hex bags. The ten women’s gazes following me every step I took. I didn’t find anything.

I heard someone walking down the hallway, no, not walking, running. They slowed down as they got closer to the door and the witches launched me back to fall back into the chair, my knife had been flown from my hand and I looked frantically for it from my chair. They all stood in front of me defensively, facing the door. I struggled to get up, but their magic kept me stuck on the chair. I couldn’t see past them as the door was kicked in and wood splinters flew into the room. A gun went off and three witches where blasted and another shot knocked off two more.  
“Tori!?” Dean yelled and he shot another two witches.  
“Dean!” I shouted back, as the three remaining witches pulled out fancy daggers with witchcraft symbols all over them. All three of them lifted a hand and Dean was tossed across the room into a mirror, glass shattering everywhere around him. He sat there sprawled on the floor for a few seconds before shaking his head about and laid eyes on me. I still couldn’t move and Dean’s gun was on the other side of the room.   
“Dean! Get up, get up!” I yelled at him, the witches were advancing on him, ready to slice his throat and I could do nothing but watch. Dean got up, rather slowly, and I noticed blood running down the side of his head. He pulled out another knife and swatted it through them, and they were gone. As soon as they disappeared I was able to move and got up to run for Dean’s gun and then threw it to him, they’d be back soon.   
“My weapons were taken, help me find them before they come back.” I said rummaging everywhere for my things. “Are you okay?” I asked when he didn’t answer and looked at him. He was leaning against an armchair and I noticed more cuts on his head that were bleeding. He’d hit his head way too hard.   
“Are you okay?” he finally asked back, looking at the cut on my face, just like Dean to care less about himself. I waved a hand at him that I was fine and walked up to him to turn his head from side to side looking over his cuts. Nothing too deep, but he probably had a concussion.   
“We’ll both live.” I said and returned to looking for my weapons. 

Dean was on his knees looking under the bed for my stuff and I stood near him rummaging through the wardrobe. The mirror on inside of the wardrobe door reflected a dark shape behind Dean in the corner of my eye. Before I even thought about it, I shouted while throwing myself between him and the shape. A witch that had begun her swing to plunge her knife in Dean’s neck wasn’t fast enough to stop and her knife went cleanly into my right side from the front. I felt it scrape against my ribs but knew it hadn’t hit my lungs or any vital organs; blood soaked my white dress and the belt I loved so much. Dean spun and shot the witch just as other ones appeared. Dean and I were launched apart and I landed on the knife in my side causing it to cut out of my skin and through the dress, leaving me with a good gash but I couldn’t see how deep. I silently hoped that it hadn’t cut up my anti-possession tattoo. I couldn’t help but cry out in pain clutching my side to put pressure, the blood making its way onto the carpet. Dean shot another witch and looked over at me.  
“COME ON, SAM!” He yelled and took out another ghost. As if on cue, the witches went up into flames, screaming as they went. Then everything went quiet and I couldn’t stop a whimper from escaping my lips, tears fighting to water in my eyes. I wouldn’t let them, no; I’d had worse injuries before. Dean ran over to me and for a couple of seconds his hands just hovered around me, unsure of how to proceed, he was speechless too.   
“Dean. Towel. Something.” I said, my words coming out more like breaths pinched in pain. He got up quickly and ran to the bathroom shaking his head as he went, I could tell me was mad at himself for letting something like this happen. He came back with a towel, my arsenal of weapons that had been taken and a serious face. His face all business as he pressed the towel against my side, wrapping my hand around it and I let out a small yelp.   
“It’s okay, Tori. I got you, I got you.” Dean said holding his hand, over mine as he pulled out his phone. “Sam, Tori’s hurt, get the car, bring it to the door, we’ll be there soon.” He shrugged off his tux jacket and wrapped it around me, hiding the blood. He looked at my weapons and looked over himself, trying to find places to hide them in his clothes. I wordlessly pulled up my skirt while clenching my teeth to reveal the thigh straps I had for them. Dean raised his eyebrows at my bare legs and muttered something about ‘arsenal in a skirt’ and replaced my weapons. “Have to get you up, Tori.” Dean said, his face twisting because he knew it was going to hurt me. I took a deep breath and nodded, Dean lifting most of my weight from the floor, quickly adjusting me so that my left, uncut side was up against him with my left arm around his shoulders. My right hand was held to my side holding the towel that was quickly soaking through with blood.   
“Dean,” I whined slightly. “My Zippo and my iron knife.” I was rewarded with a small smile from Dean.   
“Just like Tori to worry about her favorite Zippo when she’s bleeding her guts out.” He said and scanned the room again and spotted my knife, poking out from under the bed, at the same time I did. He leaned me up against the wall and quickly grabbed the knife. As he came back he stopped and smiled, stooping down to swipe my Zippo from under the dresser. Pocketing the items he grabbed me again and we started down the hallway to get to Sam. 

We had to stop for a few seconds before letting people see us for Dean to wipe some of the blood from his head and mine with the jacket I wore. Then we both took a deep breath and made our way towards the security guards near the door. I recognized Jed the security guard jump forward as we came closer. Dean held up a hand stopping him from reaching out to help.  
“She’s just had too much champagne.” Dean said, I managed to put a smile on my face.   
“Oh my, isss that Jed?” I said in the southern accent, my words slurring together unintentionally but convincingly making me sound drunk, but in reality, I had lost a lot of blood and the room had started spinning as we left the hotel room. “Bless your heart.” I said as cheerfully as I could as we passed the guards and went out the door. Sam was standing beside the idling car when we came out and opened the door for us. Dean helped me in first and then slid in the back beside me, laying my head down on his lap and reached over me to apply the pressure on my wound that I was slowly becoming unable the keep up.   
“Dean.” I said quietly, feeling Sam speed the car onto the road.   
“Shh, it’s okay, Tori, I got you. Sam’s here, he’s got you. Everything’s going to be fine, sweetheart. We’re going to patch you up.” Dean said, tucking the jacket closer around me. I grabbed his rough, calloused hand in mine and held it on my stomach. I wasn’t worried about anything. Sam and Dean were here and that meant I was safe, Dean’s head didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore so I let my eyes close, reassured by the warmth of his body heat, the smell of Baby’s leather seats and the sound of Sam’s hands moving over the steering wheel.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helping Tori with her injury.

I opened my eyes when I felt Dean move me. Sam helped me stand up as Dean kept pressure while climbing out of the car. As soon as Dean opened the motel door, I knew this was the hard part. I had to get out of the dress; a task that would be difficult because I wasn’t able to bend over without hurting myself.   
“How do you want to do this, Tori?” Sam asked. I thought it through, not very keen on having to strip down to my underwear, braless, in front of them.   
“Dean, can you get me another towel? Sam, undo the zipper please.” I instructed as clearly as I could even as the room still spun. Sam undid the zipper and kept pressure over the wound and I held the dress up until Dean gave me a towel and went back to applying pressure. Covering my chest with the towel, I held on to Sam and he supported most of my weight as I stepped out of the dress, clenching my teeth with every slight twisting movement while Dean quickly moved the towel from over my dress to my bare rib cage. As soon as I was laid on my side on the bed Sam bustled quickly about the room, gathering everything he needed to sterilize and stitch the wound. I took this moment to lift Dean’s hand and examine the cut. It was deep enough to see one of my ribs and was about half an inch under my tattoo that was normally covered by my bra. I breathed a sigh thankfully. Sam got to work quickly as Dean gave me a bottle of whiskey to take a couple swigs from. Dean removed my thigh straps and weapons, gently and efficiently, then covered my body from my hips down with a blanket. 

Sam worked quietly, cleaning the wound and the blood that had seeped all down my side and stomach while Dean distracted me with questions.   
“Why did they go for you and not me? How come they just stood there keeping you frozen until I started shooting? And then they took you but then it was as if they were protecting you when I barged in, why? And—” Dean kept asking, not giving me time to answer. Sam’s facial expression changed to a frown and grew deeper with each question. I held up a hand and interrupted Dean.  
“Well, are you going to let me answer or are you just going to keep asking questions?” I said. Dean sat on the next bed in surrender. “Alright, second question I can’t answer, but the answer to the first and the third is because I’m a virgin.” I said quickly and then took a swig of whiskey to hide my slight embarrassment. Sam’s fingers paused on my skin and Dean’s mouth formed a small o. I awkwardly held the towel closer to myself and looked from brother to brother. I could tell that Sam was trying not to look at my face as he focused extra hard on the stitches but his hands remained still, his fingertips resting on my bare skin. Dean broke the silence.   
“Ah, what?” he asked confused. I sighed; did I really have to explain this to him?  
“What? I didn’t go to high school and I don’t jump on any guy who’s willing at the bar, okay?” I explained while staring at the label on the whiskey then took another sip, this wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have sober. “Comes in handy sometimes.” I added. “One time we were hunting this weird ass cursed object, a necklace that supposedly belonged to the Greek Goddess Artemis, psycho bitch in myth, by the way. Anyways, she’s a virgin goddess and only a virgin could touch and destroy the object without getting hurt or affected by the curse.” I shrugged and sucked air between my teeth when the pain came and I realized it was a bad idea.  
“Hey, hey, don’t do that.” Sam said, this time putting his whole hand on my bare shoulder to stop me. His eyes met mine and then he abruptly took his hand off. Great, now Sam was going to be all cautious with me, I shouldn’t have said anything.   
“We’ve also come across a couple of rituals that require the blood of a virgin or something along the lines, so we never waste any time trying to find some.” I said looking back to Dean.   
“Okay…” He said thinking about it. “But why did the witches protect—ohhh.” Realization dawned on him.   
“They were trying to protect little virgin me from big scary rapist slash murderer you.” I said voicing what Dean was thinking. At this point Sam finished stitching and I propped myself on my elbow so that he could wrap bandages around my rib cage, carful not to touch me or jostle the towel I covered my chest with. It was quiet for a little bit, then Dean spoke up.  
“Tori, that’s dangerous, do you know how many witch rituals we come across that require a virgin sacrifice, what if that’s what these witches had wanted?” Dean rattled off and I rolled my eyes.   
“Just like Dean to tell me to get laid as a safety measure.” I said.  
“Well, yeah, because the world we live in, the supernatural, yeah, it’s not safe for virgins, doesn’t always end well for them” Dean preached.   
“Dean, that’s enough, it’s her choice.” Sam said, turning to look at Dean. “She can take care of herself.” He looked at my face but didn’t meet my eyes. Dean scratched his head.  
“Right, sorry.” Dean said, having no problem meeting my eyes. I smiled and took one last swig of whiskey before capping the bottle and reaching my arm out to hand it to Dean. He took it and uncapped it, taking a swig and looked around pensively.  
“Nineteen and hasn’t… geez, I was fifteen…” Dean mumbled so quietly that I just smiled secretly and pretended I hadn’t heard.   
“Ah, Tori, do you want me to get you something to put on?” Sam asked tentatively, still not meeting my eyes. I looked down at myself suddenly remembering that all I wore was a towel, underwear and a blanket. 

 

—Sam—

My fingers still tingled from touching her and my mind kept the picture of her bare skin and the anti-possession tattoo just above the cut that I hadn’t even known she had until she mentioned it at Bobby’s a few days before. I waited for her response and my eyes followed her gaze when she looked down at herself, her cheeks turning red when she remembered she wasn’t wearing much. I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said. Virgin. It just made her that much more pure to me. After coming back from Stanford she’d changed immensely and talked about having to objectify herself for money. Now I was proud to know that she still respected herself enough to wait for the right person and that the objectifying she did was just looks. It was just like Tori to wait for someone who meant a lot to her before giving that part of herself away.   
“Um, yeah, my pajama pants are on my bed and just grab a shirt with buttons please.” Tori said and I almost felt like I was trespassing when I went into her room. I quickly found the pants and looked around for a button up shirt, nothing. “Shirts are in the blue bag.” Tori called out, knowing that I wouldn’t find anything lying around. If going into her room felt like trespassing, going through her bag felt forbidden. I was careful not to look at anything as I grabbed the first shirt I saw, a solid rust red button up that I loved on her because it made her grey eyes stand out. 

She smiled at me as I came back with the clothes and reached out a hand for me to help her up. Her eyes squinted a little at the movement and kept her arm outstretched for me slide on one of the sleeves while she still held the towel, then turned and did the same with her other arm. She turned away from me and Dean to drop the towel and do up the buttons, we both looked away but I couldn’t stop from looking over her bare legs up to the little bit of her underwear that was showing from just under her shirt in the corner of my eye. Dean noticed me looking a little bit and wacked my hand, snapping me out of it. He pointed towards Tori with wide eyes and mouthed the word ‘virgin’ as if it was a reason for me not to look. A voice in the back of my mind told me that if she hadn’t wanted us to look she would have gone into the next room, and I happened to glance back just as she bent over to pull on the pants, her shirt riding up and showing black underwear with lace trimming. It took nearly everything in me to turn away, my hand over my mouth and pretend to look for the remote anywhere that didn’t require me to see Tori. Dean caught my eye and the expression on his face was one of disapproval, frowning as he slightly shook his head.   
“What?” Tori asked, making both of us snap our heads in her direction. “You know, I think sometimes you guys forget that some of the conversations you have only happen in your heads. And you know I’m too nosey not to ask.” She made her way towards the whiskey bottle again and took a sip. “Do we have any other painkillers? Cause this thing hurts like a bitch.” She finished by pointing at her wounded side. 

Tori took a couple of painkillers then spent a few minutes inspecting Dean’s head while he fussed.   
“Dean, you have a few cuts and I’m pretty sure you’ve got a concussion.” Tori said while dabbing a cloth in his hair. “This means sitting in the dark or dim lighting for a few days, and somebody has to wake you up every few hours to make sure you’re okay.” Dean swatted her hand away.  
“Like hell that’s going to happen.” Dean said. This all happened as I barely listened. I just sat on by bed and looked at the spot where Tori had been lying as I stitched her up. At some point Dean went to take a shower and wash the blood out of his hair and Tori sat right where I was looking, holding an antibacterial cloth.   
“Hello? Anybody in there? Sam?” Tori said. Her saying my name snapped me out of my daydream.   
“Huh?” I said “Ah, yeah.” I nervously ran my fingers through my hair, my fingers tingling again because of her proximity.   
“Are you okay?” Tori asked, genuine concern in her tipsy, unfocused eyes from the whiskey she’d continued to drink.   
“Yeah, I’m fine, are you?” I asked, blinking rapidly a couple of times.   
“Been through worse,” she shrugged, winced in pain for a second, then held the cloth closer to me. “Can you wipe the stupid rug burn I got on my back? I can’t reach it without tearing my stitches.” She had turned herself around and started lifting the back of her shirt as she spoke. I cleared my throat.   
“Yeah, sure.” I said and took the cloth. I looked at her back, noticed the dimples on her lower back and bit my lip to stop from touching them. Her rug burn was no where in sight in how high she held up her shirt so I gently took the hem and pushed it higher past the bandages, her hands letting go, not risking to pull any higher. Her rug burn revealed itself and I went to dab it with the cloth, Tori flinched when the antibacterial touched but didn’t say anything. When I was done, she took the cloth and threw it out. 

She went to her room and came back with a makeup free and blood free face and a Ziploc bag full of bobby pins.  
“Thanks for the stitches and for my back but I’ve got one more favor.” Tori said, climbing back onto the bed. “Can you take the pins out of my hair?” she seemed to be ashamed to ask and I smiled at her, Tori should never be ashamed to ask something of me. I nodded and she tapped my legs to make me sit further back on the bed and she positioned herself in between my knees, her back to me and tossed the bag of bobby pins behind her at me.   
“Put them in here, please.” She said and grabbed the remote that I pretended to look for earlier. I got to work as she channel surfed.   
“How many are there?” I asked, pulling out pin after pin. “It never seems to end.” Tori laughed and I laughed with her as Dean came out of the bathroom. He paused in the doorway when he laid his eyes on us.   
“Oh goody, can we braid Sam’s hair next?” Dean said with a smile and his smile grew wider when Tori burst out laughing, she was the only one who thought Dean’s bad jokes were funny. 

 

—Tori—

My scalp felt a lot better once Sam got all the pins out and even undid the braids for me. I had closed my eyes at some point and felt his fingers linger in my hair a little bit when he shook out the braids and checked for any pins he missed, I wanted him to keep going. I longed for his calloused fingers to run through my hair and touch my scalp in the gentle way he did.   
“Mm, feels so much better.” I said, my eyes still closed. “I have a new appreciation for the women of old days who had to wear their hair up tightly with pins.” I felt Sam’s fingers leaving my hair and let my head fall back a bit, following his departing hands. Sam sighed and reached his arm around me to drop the bag of pins in my lap.   
“We should probably call your brothers.” He said. I was happy and sad to hear him say that. Glad that I would see my brothers again soon, but it also meant that this case was over, Sam and Dean would take me back to Ian and West and I’d wonder when the next time I’d see the Winchesters would be as I watched Baby’s tail lights disappear down the road.  
“Fine, but no ones saying a peep about my injury.” I said pointing at each of them, Dean raised his hands in surrender and Sam rolled his eyes slightly.

After calling Ian and West on speakerphone, all three of us confirming that we were all fine and that we’d be heading back tomorrow, we watched TV. I sat on the bed with Sam as we tossed the bottle of whiskey back and forth from Sam to me to Dean on the other bed. We occasionally added in tidbits of what happened on the hunt tonight in the middle of sips. Turns out Sam had to pull up the floorboards in the closet and dig up some train track rocks before finding a wooden box filled with locks of hair, nail clippings, clothing swatches and ribbons. I had to explain how I’d gotten a cut on my face and rug burns on my back. Dean told us how he was stuck in the same hallway for a while; getting sent in circles by magic that even prevented him from being able to jump out of a window. I played with my charm bracelet as Dean explained the magic and I grabbed my journal to write it down, my letters longer and loopier than usual from drinking whiskey. On the plus side to being a little drunk, I couldn’t feel my stiches as much so I didn’t get frustrated when I meant to write a word but it came out illegible.

—Sam—

I watched as Tori sank lower and lower out of a sitting position into lying down on the bed with every sip of whiskey she took. Dean had nodded off to sleep a few minutes after we were done telling our sides of the hunt and Tori’s eye lids started to droop, her hand slackening its hold on the near empty whiskey bottle. On a normal day, I would have found a silent way of taking the booze away from her without her realizing before she even got tipsy but today she needed it, taking her mind off of the new cut that would eventually heal into a new scar to add to her collection. Her eyes finally closed and I was about to get up and give her the whole bed and sleep in hers, when her nose twitched, itchy. She lifted a hand to scratch her nose and let it fall, only to land right on my hand. Her eyes remained closed and expressionless as her fingers curled around my palm and thumb and pulled my hand closer to her. I wrapped my fingers around hers as if I’d done it many times before and folded the duvet over her legs and waist, then climbed into the covers on my side, carful not to shake the bed. I fell asleep watching her breathe, her chest steadily going up and down, showing no signs of pain or discomfort. She was safe and sound; all the worry of her being taken tonight fell away as I held her hand, real and warm, in mine.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori and the Winchesters jump in the car and begin the road trip back to Bobby's.

I woke up to find Sam’s and my hand clasped together between us on the bed and I smiled, wondering how it had happened. Sam was still asleep and so was Dean when I looked at him. I thought of Dean’s concussion and how he’d have a headache today as I stared at the ceiling while still holding Sam’s hand. I used my left hand to lift my shirt, checking to make sure I hadn’t started bleeding again and was glad to see that the bandages hadn’t been bled through. I put my hand down on my stomach and realized that I seriously had to pee. I reluctantly let go of Sam’s hand and tiptoed to my bathroom. 

After relieving myself I examined the cut on my forehead. It wasn’t big and had already scabbed over in a thin red line, it wouldn’t scar. Then I looked down at my rib cage and sighed, that one would scar. I didn’t want to deal with a wet bandage that I’d have to ask someone to replace so I decided against taking a shower and went to put my hair in a ponytail only to let out a small yelp when the action tugged at my stitches mercilessly. I slowly lowered my arms a bit and braided my hair from my neck down; the height at which I had to grab didn’t pull so badly on my stitches and tugged my favorite baseball cap onto my head. I walked around my room, toothbrush in my mouth, as I gathered my things together. Once I was done gathering my things I put some jeans on and wondered for a bit about how I was going to put a bra on. My wound fell right under where the side of the bra would wrap around on my tattoo but I knew the pressure would hurt. I settled on putting a tank top on under a button up shirt and a zip up hoodie on overtop. Then I remembered the bloody dress that had been discarded on the floor in the other room. 

The boys were still asleep when I went back in and found the dress lying in front of the TV. I sank down to sit cross-legged and pulled the dress into my lap, touching the white fabric and the dried bloodstains on it. The belt that I loved was stained all down one side but didn’t reach the beautiful beading. So I untied it, rolled it up and stuffed it in my sweater pocket. I examined the rest of the dress, the hole made in the side from the knife the way the straps were sewn into the back and how the sheer fabric went over the sweetheart neckline. I remembered the pin the witches had put on my dress and didn’t find it anywhere on the dress or the floor so I decided it must have fallen off when I got launched around the room. I daydreamed while I touched the poufy skirt that covered my whole lap and leaned back against the table the TV sat on.

“Too bad you didn’t get to wear that longer than you did.” Sam said, making me jump slightly, startling me. I looked up at him, his head propped up on his hand, his bent elbow resting on his pillow, his body, chest down, was still under the covers.   
“Yeah.” I said distantly, looking down at the dress again, a finger on my lips. “Too bad.” I almost whispered the last part. I had felt really beautiful in the dress and was sad that I’d have to get rid of it, not that I would have kept it even if it weren’t covered in blood. But still, sad. I got up and carried the dress over with me and sat down beside Sam on the bed, the skirt of the dress falling to the floor.   
“This was my favorite part, though, and it’s small so I can actually keep it.” I said, pulling out the white beaded belt. Sam took the belt from my hand and looked at it, touching the beads and watching them glint in the light. He placed it back in my hand gingerly.   
“That’s a nice thing to keep, aside from the blood.” Sam said and I laughed slightly.  
“Well, I’ll cut that part off.” I said as I touched to beads and made circles with my thumb over the white silk on the clean, un-beaded side of the belt. Dean made a sound next to us indicating that he was about to wake up.  
“Oh, good to know his concussion didn’t kill him.” I said, eyebrows raised and a smile playing on my lips.

I started humming a song that I didn’t know the name to and got up off the bed. I took the two steps to Dean’s bed and sat on it as he rolled over, eyes open. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes then looked at me.  
“Mornin’” he said, his voice groggy.  
“Good day, sir.” I said smiling and held up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?” Dean frowned like I’d asked a stupid question, but I had to make sure he didn’t need medical attention.   
“Two.” He said. I nodded and held up four fingers.  
“And now?” I asked.  
“Four. Tori, I’m fine.” Dean said, annoyance creeping into his voice. I took his face in my hand to hold him still and leaned in to check his pupils, flashing a small flashlight in his eye that I got from the bedside table. They shrank and dilated as they should and I took my hand away, satisfied.   
“Just had to be sure, can’t have you falling apart on us, Dean.” I said and draped an arm around his shoulders when he sat up. Dean took a deep breath and looked at my fingers dangling over the front of his shoulder, then reached up and held the tips of my middle and index finger between his.  
“You saved my life, Tori.” Dean said softly then turned his head to look at me. “That witch was about to slice my neck in two and you just jumped in and took the blow to your side.” I just looked into his sweet green eyes; I guess he’d been thinking the situation over since last night. I wrapped my thumb around his thumb that was holding my fingers.  
“Well, of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?” I asked Dean, not tearing my eyes away from him. His face turned into a frown.   
“Because I’m the one who’s supposed to be s—”  
“Saving me?” I finished his sentence with raised eyebrows. “Dean, sometimes after saving so many people you have to let someone save you for once. I know Sam’s done it many times, and you to him, but last night was on me.” I rested my chin on the arm I had on his shoulder, getting even closer to his emerald eyes, the visor of my hat almost touching his forehead. “It was my turn to save you because I saw her coming and wasn’t about to watch her kill you.” I squeezed his thumb to help my point sink in. “You’ve saved me so many times already, Dean, more than you know. When you started teaching me about cars I was able to fix the car and get my brothers and me safe and warm in a hotel minutes before that huge snowstorm hit in Minnesota two years ago. You’ve saved Ian and West countless times on the job, saving me from losing more family. And that time we were on the ghoul case, you sliced one of their heads off seconds before it was about to rip into my throat. So I’ll be damned if I sit back and watch while another member of my family gets killed.” Deans face had begun to soften again as I spoke. “Besides,” I said and poked his ribs. “Now you owe me.” And I winked at him playfully, smiling, then I stopped myself and held up a finger. “Actually no, we’re even, you basically carried me to the car and you found my favorite Zippo again. I think I would have actually cried if I lost that lighter.” Dean laughed and shook his head at the last part. I was glad to see his worry slowly ebb away. I wrapped both arms around him now and squeezed him. “And you know the main reason why I jumped in front of that blade?” I said, cocking my head to the side to look into his eyes that had fallen to look at his hands. “Because I know you’d do the same for me.” And I let go of him then, messing up his hair with my fingers and jumped up from the bed and clapped my hands together. “Now, I’m starving.”

By the time the boys got dressed, and we went for breakfast and got all of our things together and loaded into the trunk of the impala, it was ten o’clock. I sat in the back, naturally, and Sam and Dean settled in the front. I waved quietly at the ‘you are now leaving Nashville’ sign and looked back in the car to see Sam looking at me. I smiled at him and cocked my head to the side slightly, wordlessly asking what he was looking at. He just shrugged and turned back to the front. 

I had been minding my own business, rewriting the notes I had drunkenly written last night when Sam and Dean started bickering about something completely ridiculous.  
“I’m telling you, Asia’s ‘Heat of the Moment’ came out in the year 1981.” Dean said gesturing a hand towards the radio that was currently playing the song. Sam tipped his head back.   
“Okay, first off, I hate this song, second, it came out later than that, in ’83.” Sam rebutted.   
“Are you kidding me? This is a great song, and no way it came out in ’83.” Dean said pointing at Sam. Sam was about to respond but I interrupted.   
“Now, now boys, no use in fighting over this.” I said and swung one leg over the back of their seat, then my body and then the other leg to end up sitting between them in the front seat. “Because,” I started to explain and linked an arm in Dean’s arm and then the other in Sam’s, ignoring their surprised faces at me jumping over the seat. “We all know that ‘Heat of the Moment’ was released in April 1982.” I finished and turned up the music, silently indicating that the argument was over. I smiled when I felt them both chuckle next to me. 

—Dean—

If Tori’s talking wasn’t already surprising to people, then her comfort with physical proximity was the next thing to be surprised at. She tended to gravitate towards the people she cared about. Even as we sat in the car, she’d moved up in front to sit between us and still held her arms around one of my arms and one of Sam’s. I watched as she would rest her cheek on Sam’s shoulder when she pointed out things through Sam’s window and although they seemed to have a deeper connection, she didn’t reserve that comfort just for him. Just like she had earlier when talking about saving me, she hugged me tight and squeezed my hand in a way that only Tori seemed to be able to do. As if on cue to my thoughts, Tori, reached a hand up to fold down the collar of my leather jacket that I usually kept up and combed down the hair on the back of my head with her fingers, almost absent mindedly. Today wasn’t the only day she did these things; she’d been doing it for almost as long as I’d known her. 

As the bracelets she made began finding their way around everywhere in Bobby’s house, on my wrist and on Sam’s backpack, so did Tori’s proximity to everyone. Sometimes Sam, Dad and me would come back from a hunt and it was one of the times the tension was so strong between Sam and Dad that I’d be exhausted from trying to keep the peace. Tori would catch me grabbing a beer or unloading the trunk and wordlessly come up to me to wrap her arms around my waist. Giving me a hug I didn’t know I needed or wanted until her arms were around me. I’d hug her back and her arms would tighten in response and it would end with me messing up the hair on her head, like everyone seemed to do to her without thinking about it. Then she’d smile at me and walk off, as if she’d had a duty to come and hug me and then go about her next job when she accomplished the first one. I’d watch her go, reassured somehow by her actions that today would end and tomorrow would come and that maybe Sam and Dad would stop fighting one day. I hadn’t even been surprised the first time she’d hugged me for no reason, like I’d almost expected Tori to do something like it. After that, I’d notice her doing it in different ways for everyone. Bobby would stress over some lore and Tori would come up behind his chair and rest her bent arms on his shoulders and rest her head right beside his, looking over his shoulder at the pile of books.   
“You’ll get it Bobby.” She’d say and sometimes remember a random tidbit of information relevant to the lore, tell Bobby and make him widen his eyes and flip to another page of the book he’d already read. She’d smile, then steal his hat, put it on her head and open another book beside him. Eventually Bobby started to see it coming and hold onto his hat before Tori could steal it. 

Tori would often kiss her brothers on the cheek. West would be nursing a new wound, relaxing on the couch and Tori would stop and kiss his cheek as she walked by, automatically allowing West’s face to relax a little bit. She did this every night to say goodnight as well, kissing Ian and West’s cheeks before heading to bed. When it came to Ian she often reached up to touch the crease that formed between his eyebrows when he was stressed. Sometimes she’d be walking by and stop a few steps away to turn back around and place her index finger on that crease, wait for it to flatten and for Ian to give her a small smile and then get right back to where she was going. I noticed all these things because they happen often enough when we all lead stressful hunting lives. 

I noticed that Sam and Tori had a bit more of a connection because they seemed to do these wordless reassurances to each other. Sam would easily drape his arm around her shoulders as he looked over the homework she used to have to do while she frowned down at it. Other times Tori would lean into his shoulder and back, almost just to nudge him and kick him out of what he was thinking about. I had walked past Sam’s room the first night Tori had seen him after leaving Stanford as she comforted him about Jess. They acted as if no time had passed at all and she sat comfortably beside him, her head on his shoulder and holding his hand. I had smiled as I walked past, happy that she could comfort him when I wasn’t sure how. Each time she did this it made me think of the time Tori read out some of the Greek myth she loved so much. A certain quote had stood out to me and afterwards I was always reminded of it when Tori silently encouraged and relaxed us. “Athena marched down the ranks, arousing their will to attack. In every heart she injected new courage to fight to the end.” Tori was our Athena, just like Bobby called her and we were her ranks, ready to fight for anything she saw fit.

“Dean.” Tori said leaning towards me, bringing me back to the car. “Are we going to stop again tonight?” If I kept driving without stopping we’d only make it back to Bobby’s around four o’clock in the morning, but that was if we didn’t stop to eat.   
“Sure thing, Athena.” I said while nodding at her, deciding it was best to stop and let her sleep, since she couldn’t in a car, and help her heal that cut in her side. I smiled slightly when I saw that her cheeks had blushed when I called her Athena.  
“Hey, we need gas.” She said while lifting a hand to her rosy cheek and I checked the gauge to find that she was right. I pulled into the next gas station and we all crawled out to stretch our legs. Sam went inside to pay and Tori stood near me, leaning up against the hood of the car. Neither of us spoke while she ran a finger over Baby’s black paint, but it was comfortable, both of us perfectly happy with not saying anything. I finished filling the tank and looked back up from the rear end of the car to see that Tori was hunched over scrubbing bugs off the headlights with a car sponge, determined to wipe off any squashed bug goo left behind.   
“You missed a spot.” I teased and she looked over what she had already scrubbed, taking my comment seriously and frowning when she found nothing.  
“No I did—oh” she looked up at me then, and smiled while rolling her eyes. Her hand whipped out and smacked me on the arm and I reached out and pushed her baseball cap down her face. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head, not bothering with pushing up the cap. “If it’s not the hair ruffle, it’s the hat push.” She said but I could detect the smile in her voice.   
“We ready?” Came Sam’s voice and Tori pushed her hat back in place to look in his direction. She and I nodded at the same time and I climbed back into the car and Tori threw the sponge back into the bin. 

It only took half a second after we closed the doors for Tori to pop her head between Sam and me from the backseat.  
“Ooo, what did you get Sam?” She asked her hand snaking to the plastic bag on the seat beside him. Sam snagged the bag away before she could look inside.   
“Snacks, since we still have a couple of hours before we stop.” Sam said looking into the bag but glancing at Tori out of the corner of his eye. “Left or right?” he asked, turning slightly to look at her fully, his hands still in the bag. I looked towards Tori to see her confused face that quickly turned to a smile.   
“Left.” She said and Sam brought out a closed fist and dropped something into her open hand. She looked down to see her prize and her smile grew bigger. “Yeah, baby! My favorite.” She said, quickly undoing the wrapper and popping an orange flavored Tootsie Pop into her mouth. “Thwanks Swam.” She said around the sucker. I noticed Sam smile at her response and I watched as his gaze lingered on her for a little bit, watching her fold the wrapper neatly using the back of our seat as a flat surface. I couldn’t tell if it was just these few days of Sam and Tori being together so much or if it was always this way, but I was really starting to notice how much Sam cared for her. Of course he always had right from the beginning and so did I but this was different now. His gaze on her was much more intense, and the way he’d acted like he’d forgotten how to think when Tori told us she was a virgin. Sam was falling for Tori, and I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.


	18. Chapter 18

I had been laying down in the backseat, staring at the sky outside the window, occasionally singing along to a song on the radio and watched as the sky started to grow darker. I sat up and put a hand on Sam’s shoulder and used my other hand to hold his chin and turn it towards Dean’s window.   
“Look at the sunset, guys.” I said taking my hand off Sam’s chin to point out the window. The sky was sprayed with orange, yellow, red and pink. Dean looked to his left, smiled and pulled the car over. He got out and opened my door to take my hand and help me out. Sam came around the car to stand beside us. We stood, the brothers on either side of me, leaning against the side of the car and watched the sunset. It got colder as the sun sank and I put an arm around the back of each Winchester and pulled them closer to me, stealing their heat, but careful not to put pressure on my stitches. They both looked down at me when I did this and Dean put an arm over my shoulders as Sam pulled my hood over my hat, covering my ears and neck and put his hand over mine, warming my cold fingers with his own warm ones. I didn’t want it to end, I wanted to stand with these Winchesters, their familiar touches keeping me warm for hours. But soon enough the sun sank down and we stayed standing until all traces of red and pink were gone. My body betrayed me and sent a big chill over me and Dean patted my arm.  
“Okay, time to go if we still want dinner tonight.” He said and I gave him a small sad face. “Common, you’re freezing. Look, you’re shivering.” He finished, my teeth chattered a bit as if to prove his point. Dean used his arm to push and guide me back to the door and opened it for me. I sighed and climbed in. As soon as the car was running and Dean turned onto the road, I leaned forward and turned the heat on, holding my hands over the vents.   
“Nope, sorry guys, I’m coming back. Just to warm up, there’s no heat back here.” I said climbing over the seat like I had before with a wince at my sore side and nestled myself in between Sam and Dean, pulling my knees up to my chest to hold in more heat. Sam huffed out a chuckle, shaking his head as he looked out his window. I leaned my shoulder into him and back, nudging him for laughing at me.   
“Hey, don’t laugh.” I said and tugged my sleeves over my clenched fists and pulled my hood closer around my head and neck. I held my hands over the vents and rested my chin on my knees. Dean took a left turn that made me lean/fall over into Sam. I just sighed and remained leaning on Sam, not bothering to move. I curled my fingers in front of the vents as if I could grab the heat physically and rested my head on Sam’s shoulder. 

My hands warmed up and so did the rest of my body but I remained in the front seat in between Sam and Dean, not wanting to move. The quiet and warmth was too comfortable to disrupt and I was almost sad when Dean pulled into a motel parking lot. He checked us in while Sam and I stayed in the car, waiting for Dean to come back so we could go get dinner. 

We ate in a small mom and pop diner, Dean getting a burger as always and Sam some type of salad, I ordered the soup of the day which happened to be my favorite, cream of mushroom. I hadn’t even known what the soup was when I ordered it, not bothering to ask and pumped my fist in the air happily when the waitress put the bowl in front of me. The boys laughed at my action while I wrapped my hands around the bowl, warming them and closed my eyes as I sniffed in the steam. My eyebrows rising at the wonderful smell that wafted up my nose, warranting more chuckles from the brothers.   
“Are you going to eat it or just smell it all night?” Dean asked while I stirred the soup with my spoon.   
“Shhh, it’s a process. You know, I actually appreciate my food, smelling it and tasting it instead of just stuffing it in my face.” I said to Dean, then blew on a steaming spoonful of soup to cool it down. 

By the time we finished eating and got back to the motel, it was ten forty-five and I was pretty ready for bed. My bandages were itching to be changed but I hesitated to ask, not wanting to go through the same thing as the night before with Sam looking at me like I was a tiny porcelain doll that couldn’t be touched or I’d break. So I took off the bandages and hopped in the shower to clean and gather up some courage. While in the shower, I moved my arms around myself, mimicking the motions I’d have to do to put my own bandage on and was glad to find that it didn’t hurt to do so. The stiches pulled uncomfortably, but it was tolerable. My worry about Sam being weird about applying a new bandage washed away and before I knew it I started humming and soon the humming turned to singing. The lyrics to ‘Drift Away’ by Dobie Gray came easily to me and I sang without thought. I finished in the shower and got out to dry myself and apply a new bandage, then got dressed and braided my hair, the song never faltering as I kept singing the same verses twice over. 

 

—Sam— 

I waited for Dean to get out of the bathroom while I watched TV. We had the same setup in this room as in the last motel. Tori, with a single bedroom to herself that was joined to Dean’s and my room by a door in the middle of the wall. This time Tori and I wordlessly opened our doors on either side of the room as we had before at the same time and she smiled sweetly, turning on her heel to walk to her bathroom. I sat on my bed watching a world war two documentary when I heard Tori’s voice.   
“Day after day I'm more confused. Yet I look for the light through the pouring rain. You know that's a game that I hate to lose.” I turned the volume down on the TV to listen to her and smiled when I realized she was singing. “And I'm feelin' the strain, ain't it a shame.” Her voice carried easily through the thin walls and also came through our open door, singing the words in a higher key than the original, to better fit her voice. “Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away” I leaned back onto the bed, my hands behind my head as she sang the chorus, repeating the line she just sang. She never wavered on a note or lyric and I’d grown so used to hearing her sing around Bobby’s house that I’d missed her voice when I was gone to Stanford. That first time seeing her again after Dean came to get me from school, her singing was another thing I was glad that the hunting life hadn’t changed about her. 

“Beginning to think that I'm wastin' time, I don’t understand the things I do. The world outside looks so unkind. And I'm countin' on you, to carry me through.” Tori continued to sing as I heard her shower turn off and Dean’s shower turn off seconds later. The new silence allowed for her voice to be clearer and louder. While she sang the chorus again Dean came out of the bathroom shaking a towel through his hair. He stopped for a few seconds to listen and I saw a smile spread on his face as he turned away from me. I could hear Dean lip sing the next verse with Tori as he pulled the sheets open on his bed and placed a gun under his pillow like he did every night. “Thanks for the joy that you've given me. I want you to know I believe in your song and rhythm and rhyme and harmony. You've helped me along, makin' me strong.” When Tori sang that verse I silently thanked her for it. I thanked her for what the verse said. Tori did give me joy, and I believed in everything about her. I thanked her for helping me along, pushing me to go and get a taste of the normal world even when everyone else told me no, for making me strong when I thought of coming back and she convinced me to stay. The thought of her made me strong on hunts, like her telling me ‘I’ll see you later’ was a promise I made to her every time Dean and I left for a hunt, that I’d fight as hard as I could so that I could come back to her again. 

As Tori sang the chorus twice to finish the song, Dean lying in bed, lip syncing the words with her, I closed my eyes and listened until her last note rang out at the end, making me wish for her to keep singing.   
“My God, that’s awesome, she’s awesome.” Dean said, his hands over his face, muffling his words.   
“I know, never get tired of it.” I said, sighing. “I swear she’s gotten better just over the last month or two ago that we saw her.” Tori hummed another song but it wasn’t loud enough for me to hear so I got up to get ready for bed. 

 

—Tori—

I was nearly asleep, lying on my side, as I held my phone in my hand waiting for my brothers to respond to my goodnight text when Sam poked his head through the door.   
“Did…did you, ah, need a new bandage?” Sam asked running his hand through his hair.   
“No, I managed to do it myself, thanks, Sam.” I said, scratching my forehead. His eyes followed my hand and then he frowned, taking a few steps closer to me.   
“What?” I asked.  
“Didn’t you have a cut on your forehead?” he said and walked right up to me and bent down to touch my face where the cut was supposed to be.   
“Yeah, I did.” I said raising my hand back up, my fingers landing on top of Sam’s. “I was always a fast healer.” I shrugged and Sam’s fingers began to retreat from my face but my fingers grabbed his before he could take them away. I looked up at Sam, watched him swallow hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.   
“But, ah,” Sam’s eyes went from my eyes to the hand that held his hand. “That’s really fast, not even a pink line left.” I shrugged while examining his hand, bending and unbending his fingers. My phone vibrated on the pillow next to me and Sam cleared his throat and slid his hand from mine. I watched him turn away, my skin tingling as he walked out the room. I checked the message on my phone. It was from West.   
‘Can’t wait for you to get back. Had a dream last night, a re-enactment of Ian’s seizure. I think this message from Mom is more important than we think. Sleep tight, Tori.’ I had to read the text twice before I processed what it said. I squeezed my eyes shut; the weight that had been lifted for a few days came down on me again, the stress tying my stomach in knots. 

I wasn’t one to oversleep if I knew we had places to go and things to do but I woke up the next morning to Sam shaking my shoulder lightly.   
“Mornin’, we’re thinking of heading out in about half an hour is that alright?” Sam asked, his hand still on my shoulder. I glanced at the clock, it’s red numbers reading ten o’clock. I sat up quickly, eyes wide.   
“Whoa, I never sleep this late unless I drove most of the night. Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” I asked, Dean usually liked to be on the go first thing in the morning. Sam shrugged.   
“We decided you needed the rest, you do have a big gash in your side, you know.” Sam said, his eyes going to my side. “How’s it feeling anyways?”   
I rubbed sleep from my eyes and yawned while responding.  
“Barely feel it, when I looked at it yesterday it had already scabbed over cleanly.”   
Sam raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.   
“That’s good.” He said and turned. “We’ve got coffee in here.” He said over his shoulder while walking into the next room.   
“Oo, yay.” I said and jumped out of bed to follow Sam to the coffee. Dean wordlessly handed me my cup as he read the newspaper, already on the look out for another hunt. 

I finished my cup of coffee and a croissant as I walked around my room gathering the few things that had found themselves out of my bag. After about five minutes, all I had left to do was get dressed and brush my teeth. Disposing of my empty coffee cup I brought some clothes into the bathroom to change and was glad to find that it didn’t hurt to wear a bra. The minor detail of being glad that I was healing nicely was able to lift a little bit of stress and I started singing ‘Never Goin’ Back Again’ by Fleetwood Mac. Halfway through the song, however, I started thinking about Dad playing the song on guitar, which made me think of the message from Mom all over again and the small relief I had washed away. I kept singing though, positive that if I stopped all of a sudden one of the boys would notice and ask. They didn’t need my stress to be the cherry on top of the mountain of worry they already lived under. 

We left earlier, since I was ready and we piled into the car. We’d make it back to Bobby’s around five o’clock so I settled in the back seat, letting my mind wander on what Mom was trying to tell us. Why was West having dreams too? How come I wasn’t seeing anything? Why did she have to contact Ian through a sort of seizure black out? Question after question popped in my head and I didn’t have an answer for any of them.   
“Why?”  
“What?” Said Sam, turning in his seat to look at me.  
“What?” I asked, frowning slightly.  
“You said ‘why’.” Sam explained. My frown melted off and my eyebrows went up.  
“Oh, didn’t think I said that out loud.” I said, feeling my cheeks pooling with warmth.   
“Well, what are you thinking about?” Dean asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror.   
“Oh, nothin’.” I said as a feeble attempt to stop them from asking again.   
“Hah, yeah, right.” Said Sam. I dropped my face into my hands, I knew Sam was going to say that. Sam turned more in his seat so that he could look at me without craning his neck.   
“Tori.” His hand came out to touch my shoulder, making me look up into his eyes. His pale green eyes looked back into mine, serious and sensitive at the same time. “You’ve been a little off since you woke up. What’s wrong?” I put a palm to my forehead, sighing. Not wanting to explain.  
“Yeah, you even messed up the Fleetwood Mac lyrics this morning.” Dean said, looking at me through the rearview again. My mouth dropped open, I thought I had it all under control.  
“You guys have enough to worry about.” I said, because I really didn’t want to dump this on them. Knowing them, they’d take it upon themselves to go to every length to fix it or hurt themselves trying.   
“Tori.” Dean said sternly, not taking no for an answer. I sighed again, admitting defeat and scooted up on my seat to lean my elbows on the back of their seat and rested my head in my hands.   
“Ian’s ‘seizure’.” I said, making quotation marks with my fingers when I said ‘seizure’. “Well, it wasn’t really a seizure. Or maybe it was, but either way, he says that while he was out my Mom spoke to him.” I said and waited to see their reactions before continuing. Dean kept driving, his face straight and Sam just looked at me, waiting, knowing there was more for me to tell. “He says she was trying to give him a message but he can’t remember what she said. A few days after we left they tried a bunch of things to help him remember, but nothings worked. So I told them to hold off until I got back. Well now, West told me he had a dream last night about this whole Mom message thing and he’s pretty sure it’s more important than we think it is.” I took a deep breath. “I said ‘why’ out loud because I don’t understand why, after all this time, Mom is choosing now to talk to us, why she targeted Ian, why West had a dream. And all I can take from it is that something must be happening, or something must be about to happen and Mom’s trying to warn us.” I folded my arms on the back of the front seat and rested my forehead on my forearm. “What if it wasn’t even Mom? What if someone is messing with us? Distracting us from something or from seeing what’s actually in front of us.” I felt like crying, but I knew better, tears never solved anything. Sam’s hand came to rest on my elbow and I raised my head to put my hand on his.   
“We’ll help you figure it out.” Sam said, his eyes looking deep into mine, a steady reassurance. I got ready to deny Sam’s offer, thinking of the nicest way to tell him he didn’t have to.   
“Tori,” Dean said, catching my attention. “You know we want to help, just like you would and have helped us before.” My eyes pricked, threatening to water after hearing Dean’s words. I sniffled and used the hand that wasn’t on Sam’s to squeeze Dean’s shoulder.   
“Thanks guys.” I said giving them a small smile. “Not sure how to figure it out though, Ian can’t remember and Mom was cremated, and the only thing I have of hers is her old journal. Pretty sure if her ghost was still here tied to the journal, we would have noticed by now.”   
“So what? She’s contacting you from the grave?” Dean asked, frowning.   
“Maybe, but why go through all the trouble and not have Ian remember?” I said, chewing on my bottom lip. 

We let the problem stew between us. The three of us occasionally throwing out another possibility that brought us no closer to a solution. We needed Ian to remember, then from there we might be able to figure out why Mom contacted him. Eventually we ran out of ideas and the car was silent. I lay down in the back seat running my fingers through my hair, as if doing so could pull answers from my head. I had my eyes closed, going through every detail Ian told me about his seizure, when I heard someone click the radio on. ‘Dust In the Wind’ by Kansas played on the classic rock station.

—Dean—

The car got really quiet once we’d exhausted all our ideas on Ian’s ‘message’ from their mother. I noticed Tori’s figure lay down in the seat, sighing as she did so. It killed me to see her stressed. She was always the one encouraging us that it was weird to see the tables turned. My hands tightened on the steering wheel. Not only did Tori not deserve to lose her parents but she sure as hell didn’t deserve to have her mother haunting them with an unknown message from the grave. I looked to the back seat to find her with her eyes closed and her hands clutching a handful of her hair, I could almost see her thoughts running through her head. Comfort wasn’t my forte but I knew enough about Tori to know how music made her feel. So I turned on the radio, happy to find ‘Dust In the Wind’ by Kansas playing, seconds from the beginning. Tori loved this song. 

We’d been tuning up her Chevelle when the song came on. She immediately stopped undoing a bolt and clutched my arm with her greasy fingers and leaned back on the car.   
“Close your eyes.” She told me after she’d closed her own. I did as she said and we both listened, her beautiful voice joining in at the next verse, singing in harmony with the radio. Once the song had finished and faded out to another one, she told me of the time her dad played it for them on a cassette tape once. He’d talk about how much he loved the guitar in it but was never able to play it for some reason, even though he’d been able to play much more difficult stuff. She said that for two weeks after that West played the song over and over again on the guitar, perfecting it. Then when father’s day came, West played while Tori and Ian sang the song for their Dad.   
“He cried, he was so proud of West.” Tori said, looking down at her fingers covered in car grease. “Dad would ask him to play it all the time after that, and West was more than willing to do so, because nothing could top the joy Dad got from it. West even played it at his funeral.” Tori finished, taking a deep breath. I’d wrapped my arm around her shoulders then until another song came on that quickly changed her remembrance mood into a dancing one. She’d slid out from under my arm and skipped about, kicking up the gravel dust, singing to the song and playing air guitar while sometimes pointing at me to join her. I had shaken my head laughing and turned to finish removing the bolt she’d left behind. 

I looked back at her now to see that her hands had come out of her hair, her eyes still closed but her expression softened when she realized what song was playing. Turing my eyes back onto the road I heard Tori’s voice start to softly sing along, my knuckles loosened on the steering wheel, glad to take her mind off things, if only for a few minutes.

 

—Tori— 

After dwelling about Mom’s message for a bit and when ‘Dust In the Wind’ finished, I told myself that there was nothing I could do from in the car, so I sat up and pulled my hair up into a pony tail. I wouldn’t subject the boys to a quiet stressful car ride either so I started babbling about the first random thing that came to mind.   
“Have you guys ever been to the Grand Canyon?” I asked. The boys seemed to jump a little bit at the sudden words after a while of silence.   
“Yes, twice actually.” Sam said, turning to look at me. “Why?”   
“Oh just curious, I’ve never been, I’ve always wanted to take one of those silly pictures where someone pretends their falling off or pretending to push someone in.” I said, laughing slightly at the thought. Sam huffed out a chuckle and I was glad to see a smile crack across Dean’s face. 

A few hours, two candy suckers from Sam, and endless random chatter later we were only about ten minutes away from Bobby’s, the landscape becoming so familiar again, I felt like I was coming home. I was talking about the 1969 Camaro we’d driven past when I noticed what song was playing on the radio.   
“Oh Dean! Did you see that Camaro? 1969, very nice, I like what he did with the rims. Oh and the col— Oh my god.” They both glanced at me, noticing the change in my tone. “This song.” I said, lifting a hand to my temple.   
“Hotel California? The Eagles. What about it?” Dean asked.  
“This is the song that was playing when Ian had his blackout, how much do you want to bet it might help him remember something?” I said, my eyes wide, my hands held, palms up, fingers spread out in front of me. I felt Dean press a little harder on the accelerator, Baby’s motor rumbling louder, more than happy to take us a little faster.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what Ian's dreams really mean.

As soon as Dean pulled up to the house, I was opening and out of the door before the car had even fully stopped. I crashed through the door and ran right into West.   
“Thought I heard the Impala.” He said and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back quickly then slid out of his arms.   
“Ian!” I shouted. “Where’s Ian? I think I know a way to help him remember.” I said, scanning the room and starting for the stairs when I didn’t find Ian.   
“What?” West said, his mouth forming a small o. “Ah, he’s out back, giving the car a wash.” I turned on my heel to head for the back door and didn’t bother looking when I heard Sam and Dean come through the door. Before I even had the back door open I was calling Ian’s name again.   
“Ian!” I yelled, making my way to the mechanical shed. “Ian!” He came quickly from around the corner, jogging.   
“Tori!” he jogged right up to me and pulled me into a hug. “Never thought I could miss you so much.” He placed a kiss on top of my head.   
“Yeah, yeah, me too, I think I know how to help you remember.” I said quickly, as if I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth fast enough. I had already pulled away from the hug and was starting to pull him to the house, a fist full of his shirt in my hand. Ian didn’t protest and followed me back to the house.   
“Can someone find me the song Hotel California and something to play it on please!?” I said as soon as I’d opened the door back into the house.   
“Already got it, kiddo.” Dean said, holding up a cassette tape and Sam went to grab a stereo from the kitchen. I went to grab the cassette from Dean but he pulled back before I could. “Ah-ah, this is from my car, I want it back.” he said, his green eyes looking into mine.   
“Of course, Dean, we’re just going to play the song. Then you can have it back.” I held my palm open expectantly. Dean placed it in my hand and I closed my fingers around it, bringing it to my face and kissing it once.   
“Ian, lie down, you have to go to sleep.” I said, pulling out the tape and popping it into the stereo.   
“What? How am I supposed to do that? Everyone’s watching.” Ian said, scratching his eyebrow at the same time Dean did. If this wasn’t so important I would have laughed at how similar Dean and Ian were.   
“Fine.” I waved at everyone to get out. They all obliged, save West because Sam and Dean knew I’d kick their asses if they didn’t.   
“Like hell I’m leaving.” Said West. I pointed to the door.   
“It’s just until he’s asleep, I’ll call you back in when he is.” I said, pushing Ian onto the couch.   
“It’s fine, whatever.” Ian said, letting West stay. “Is it imperative I fall asleep immediately?” Ian asked and I realized how rushed I’d been about the situation for no reason.   
“No, actually, I don’t know why I’m rushing.” I sighed, sitting down next to Ian. I put a pillow on my lap and patted it, telling Ian to put his head down. West sat on a chair next to the couch and Ian put his head in my lap, stretching his legs out on the rest of the couch. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, my fingers running through his hair absent-mindedly. 

 

—Ian—

I looked up at Tori as she ran her fingers through my hair. I was finally able to relax knowing she was right beside me after a week of stressing about what she was doing and where she was. My eyes swept over her face and arms, checking for any knew injuries and was glad when I found none. She gazed ahead, lost in thought and eventually she leaned back on the couch, her fingers never stopping the tracks she made in my hair. I don’t know how much time passed but at some point Tori started humming and I closed my eyes, listening to the song. I recognized it as a country tune but didn’t know the artist or the name of the song, but it was comforting nonetheless. 

 

—West—

I watched as Ian relaxed more and more onto Tori, his worry of her absence melting away as she hummed a Dixie Chicks song. I watched Tori, too, as she ran her fingers through his hair, looking in front of her and I knew she was lost in thought. Endless possibilities running through her head. I noticed she didn’t have any new injuries from her recent hunt and that allowed me to relax into my own chair. Bobby came into the living room, and I nodded my head at him. Tori didn’t even notice him; her eyes open but not seeing. So Bobby left, clearly seeing that we didn’t need him at the moment. Tori’s song came to an end and she looked down at Ian. His breathing was slow and steady, asleep. She looked up at me and smiled, then looked at the stereo with Hotel California waiting to be played. Her smile shrank, indicating business, and bracing herself for what might happen. I leaned over and pushed play. 

Nothing happened during the first verse that I remember we all sang before Ian blacked out. Tori’s fingers that had stopped raking through Ian’s hair clenched into fists as she waited for the verse we both knew Ian lost consciousness at. As soon as the verse started, Ian’s face changed, contorting slightly as it did every time he had a bad dream. His fingers clenched into fists and his legs bent up, kicking. I waited for Tori to reach a hand to him, to comfort him like she always did but she kept her hands off of him, letting him work through the dream himself. As the song progressed, Ian started muttering words that I couldn’t understand. When I looked back at Tori she had grabbed a notepad that Bobby kept in almost every area of the house and had started writing things down. I wanted to ask if she knew what he was saying but I didn’t dare say a word, not wanting to disrupt anything. Hotel California ended and the next song started but Ian kept muttering and occasionally kicking. Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention and I looked up to see Sam, Dean and Bobby’s head all looking into the room around the corner. I raised my eyebrows at them, as if telling them to stop fooling around and they quietly came into the room, all eyes on Ian and Tori. Eventually Ian stopped kicking out and not long after that, his muttering stopped. Tori kept writing, already trying to piece things together and Ian’s face relaxed. After writing her final thought, Tori looked down at Ian and placed two fingers on his forehead, one finger above each of Ian’s eyebrows. Seconds after, Ian’s eyelids fluttered open and he grabbed Tori’s hand that was touching his forehead and wrapped both his hands around it.   
“You’re the daughter of Athena.” Said Ian, warranting a frown from Tori. 

 

—Tori—

I huffed out a breath, still frowning at Ian.   
“Well that didn’t work.” I said, I looked back at my notepad, I should have known while I was writing it down. He said all the same things he always said when he had a nightmare. Muttering about Mom, telling West to take me and run, it never changed.  
Ian sat up abruptly, never taking his eyes off mine.  
“I’m serious, I remember what Mom said, she’s been trying to tell me for a long time in my dreams but I never remembered before.” Ian said, his serious eyes bore into mine. I looked at West with my eyebrows raised then back to Ian. His serious look made me believe him. My face softened and I grabbed the notepad again.   
“Okay…what did Mom say then?” I said, pen at the ready to write it all down.   
“You’re in danger.” Ian started and I heard more than one person make a noise in response. I looked up to find that the Winchesters and Bobby had come into the room, all their faces serious after hearing Ian’s statement. “It’s crazy, but you’re in danger because you’re the daughter of Athena.” I rolled my eyes again at the comment, refusing to believe it.   
“That makes no sense.” I said. “Athena is a virgin goddess she swore to Zeus she would forever remain that way, she’d never have children.” My Greek knowledge kicking in without thought.   
“Mom told me to say ‘the same way as Theseus’ and you’d understand.” Ian said. I thought about Theseus for a moment before my mouth fell open, his eyes still looked into mine, as if a little amazed.   
“Theseus was born of two mortals, he wasn’t—oh.” I said realization dawning on me.   
“What?” Every man in the room said, making me look up at each one, they’d all taken a few steps closer to listen, West leaned forward in his seat.   
“Ah…Theseus. He’s a Greek hero, kind of like Heracles, or Hercules as you would know him. Um, his mother and father were mortal but just after he was conceived, his mother, Aethra, was told in a dream to offer a sacrifice and Poseidon appeared and possessed Aethra. So this way, Theseus was born semi-divine.” I said and looked at everyone’s weirded out expression, and then it hit me. “Wait, so Mom is trying to tell us that she and Dad conceived me and then Athena possessed Mom?” I looked around, wide-eyed.   
“Well, it kind of makes sense, Tori. From how much we’ve learned about Athena from you.” West said. “Think about it. You’re super smart, really good at fighting and strategizing, you make those bracelets which I guess is a form of weaving, you’ve even got grey eyes.” West finished, I thought about how I didn’t even remember having to learn how to read ancient Greek, I had just always been able to read it.   
“Yeah, you didn’t inherit those eyes from Mom or Dad, and I know for a fact you didn’t get it from any of our grandparents either.” Ian added. I didn’t want to believe it right away, so I shook my head out.   
“Um, so what else did Mom say?” I asked, sort of changing the subject.   
“Oh, yeah, to add to all these crazy smarts and grey eyes you received from Athena, she gave you the gift of sight. Tori, you’re a prophet. That’s why you see things coming before they do.” Ian explained quickly, the information pouring out of his mouth. This was all becoming too much for me, I dropped my head into my hands and rubbed my temples. This was ridiculous, demigods didn’t exist, because the Olympian gods didn’t exist, I couldn’t be the daughter of Athena. I felt the couch shift around me and soon someone’s arms pulled me to their chest and hugged me, someone else’s hand rested on my knee. I could tell West was the one hugging me because I knew his smell and feel immediately but I didn’t know who touched my knee. Everyone was quiet as we all let the information sink in. I looked up from my hands to see that Sam was the one whose hand was on my knee while he sat on the coffee table in front of me.   
“All this time I’ve been calling her Athena, and she actually is…” Bobby said taking his hat off and rubbing his face and head, trying to wrap his head around it.   
“I know this is kind of crazy and hard to accept right now, Tori, but I gotta say, that’s kind of awesome.” Dean said, offering me a smile, it helped make me feel a tiny bit better about my situation.   
“Yeah, sure, but why is she in danger?” Sam asked, bringing us all back to the main matter at hand. We all turned to Ian for the answer.  
“Her visions are getting more frequent and more accurate. That’s a lot of power that many bad people or things are going to want to control her for.” Ian explained, I huffed out a breath and West hugged me a bit tighter.   
“Wait, Tori, those witches.” Dean pointed at me, then looked to Sam. “You said they were Greek right?” he turned back to me. “Maybe they not only tried to protect you because of…because of you know,” Sam’s hand left my knee, reminded. “But because they knew who you were, a prophet and daughter of Athena.” Dean finished; his hands hovered around his head, amazed by how certain things fell into place.   
“Tori, we’re going to find somewhere safe to keep you, nobody’s going to take you away from us. We’re going to keep you safe.” Ian said, looking into my eyes again. Ian’s comment was the last straw that sent me over the edge. I pulled off West arms from around me and stood up from the couch.   
“Like HELL am I going to live like a hermit under a stupid rock for the rest of my life!” I said frowning at Ian, raising my voice a little bit. “None of this changes things for me. We are going to keep hunting, we are going to keep saving lives and I’m going fight like hell if anybody comes for me, ain’t nobody taking me alive. Neither of you are going to treat me like a small child that needs to be protected, because I can take care of myself.” I finished and stormed off into the kitchen, I grabbed a beer from the fridge and kicked the back screen door open. 

I threw the bottle cap into one of the scrap metal cars and took a big chug of beer, walking to the mechanical shed. I found our Chevelle half covered in the soapsuds Ian didn’t have the chance to wash off. I turned on the radio and blasted the rock station that came on. I finished off the beer and smashed the glass bottle in a metal garbage barrel, satisfied with the noise it made. I stood staring at my car for a bit, ashamed at my outbreak again, what was up with me? I lost it at the bar in front of Sam and Dean and lost it again just now. I was usually really good with managing stress but maybe Ian’s seizure had pushed me over the top and now that I learned the reason why and the fact that it was my fault drove me further over the edge. Ever since my parents death, I’d accepted that I wasn’t normal, that my life wasn’t normal, but now I wasn’t even a normal human, I was supernatural just like the things me and my family hunted. 

I grabbed the hose and started rinsing the dried suds off the car, grabbing a rag too and polishing away any dirt or grime left behind on the dark blue paint. I heard someone’s footsteps come up behind me over the music but I didn’t look to see who it was, just kept polishing, and grabbing a spray bottle with cleaner to shine up the rims.   
“I don’t want to hear it right now, West.” I said, knowing it was him, he was always the voice of reason between Ian and I when we fought.   
“That’s why I came instead.” Bobby said and I dropped the polish rag on top of the spray bottle. I stayed crouched in front of the wheels, looking at Bobby’s and my reflection distorted in the chrome rims. I sighed and spun on my heel to look at Bobby. His expression was kind and somber, he just wanted to help. I fell back and sat on the gravel, leaning against the car. Bobby came and sat next to me and handed me another beer. 

 

—West—

We all watched surprised as Tori stormed out of the room. She never did that, every time there was an argument she would make her case and stay in the room until the matter was resolved, and her anger would dissipate. Tori never stayed mad at people. Watching her outburst and then walk away before anyone had the chance to respond was so alien to me that it took a few seconds for me to think about going after her. I started to go after her but Sam’s hand rested on my shoulder to stop me. His face was calm, as if he understood exactly why Tori behaved as she did.   
“Yeah, she doesn’t want to talk to you, West. She doesn’t want to talk to any of us.” Dean said.   
“What the hell happened on this case you guys just came back from?” Ian asked, not impressed. “Tori never acts like this and who the hell are the witches you were talking about?” Ian sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “What the hell is going on?” 

Sam and Dean took turns explaining what happened on the case. They told us about the Greek ghost witches that tried protecting Tori and they easily slid in that we, including them, had to start treating Tori like the adult she was. Ian asked what made them realize that ahead of time, and I could tell there had been a conversation between my sister and them, but they just shook their heads and didn’t tell us what she’d said in Nashville.   
“You know,” Sam said all of a sudden. “This whole daughter of Athena thing makes Tori’s crazy ability to heal fast make so much more sense.”  
“How do you know she heals fast? Did she get hurt?” I asked, the hair on the back of my neck standing up.   
“Oh no, well, yes, she just got a cut on her forehead and a harsh rug burn on her back, but the cut on her face only took, like, twenty-four hours to heal.” Sam said, but I could tell there was something else he wasn’t telling us. I didn’t have the energy to ask though, if they had agreed with Tori not to tell us something than I had to respect it, I guess. I didn’t want to though.   
“So why couldn’t your mother just contact Tori through her dreams?” Bobby asked, reminding us all that he was still in the room. Ian rubbed his eyes.  
“Something about her mind being too strong to get into because of her being a prophet. Yay for being weak minded.” Ian said bluntly.   
“Bobby?” Sam said. “You want to go talk to her?” he suggested. It didn’t take long for Bobby to turn around, grab two beers from the fridge and walk out the door. 

 

—Dean—

The second Ian had mentioned hiding Tori, it had been my thought too, however, I knew Tori would react. Her argument brought me right back to her outburst in the bar and I looked at Sam to see that he’d expected the same thing as well. Sam had the mind to stop West from going after Tori and I decided to break it to them that Tori didn’t want to talk to any of us but maybe Bobby. Sam and I silently agreed that we wouldn’t tell what happened at the bar, nor would we mention Tori’s wound in her side, because we knew that’s what she would have wanted. We didn’t mention her getting drunk either, for fear we’d have hell to pay for it from her brothers. 

 

—Bobby—

As Sam and Dean revealed how much they all treated Tori like a child, I silently nodded, knowing all to well how much it bothered Tori. I was protective over Tori, just like I was for the boys too but I’d known better to treat her like a child right when I found out just how smart and mature she was. I’d known this ever since her brothers started leaving her behind with me when they went on hunts. Her mood would change as soon as they left. Like she had to work harder to seem more mature when they were around just so that they would notice. But they never did. Everyone, Sam and Dean included, still always ruffled her hair and they would set a curfew for her when she got old enough to drive, her brothers tell her to call every night to check in and used to send her to bed at a certain time. I’d laugh as I watched her come down the stairs half an hour after she knew the boys had gone to bed. She’d come sit with me as I hunched over some lore, occasionally pointing something out over her steaming cup of herbal tea. I never sent her back to bed, because I didn’t think she needed to be told what to do and she longed to help with everything she could so I would never deny her that. 

She let her guard down around me and roll her eyes and wink at me over the speaker phone while talking to her brothers when she told them she’d gone to bed at the right time the night before when they asked, lying. She’d tell them she hadn’t left the house since they left, when I’d let her go for a drive the day before, staying out for a few hours, because I trusted that she would come back and stay out of trouble, which she did. Tori didn’t need to be looked after, she looked after everyone else. Sometimes I broke the rules for Tori, telling her to get out of my hair for a bit or I’d keep her up late a night, taking her out for a drive or getting her to help me fix someone’s car for a quick buck. I even took her deer hunting a couple of times. 

I walked up to her now, knowing exactly where to find her, the two beers swinging by my side. I heard the radio blasting and hose get turned off. When I rounded the corner, there she was, polishing her dark blue 1968 Chevelle, her favorite thing in the world that she could truly call her own. As soon as Tori caught on really quickly to Dean’s lessons on fixing cars around the age of fourteen she found the Chevelle on the back of my lot, under a dirty tarp. I’d forgotten it was even there and Tori asked if she could fix it up. I had shrugged and said she could do whatever she wanted with it. Before I knew it, the next time Dean was around she’d grabbed him before he even made it through the front door and dragged him to the car, begging for him to help her fix it up. Dean agreed and they spent hours and hours on it, basically rebuilding it from the ground up. When he left on a hunt, I’d hear her walking around the house while talking on the phone, taking notes from Dean on what she could do next without him. Then when she knew Dean would be back in a few hours, she’d power through her homework to be done before Dean got back, bouncing impatiently in her chair while she waiting for Dean to eat something before heading to the back to work on it. Ian and West helped sometimes, but they didn’t seem to have the knack for it like Dean and Tori did. The Impala was Dean’s baby but the Chevelle was Tori’s. She dragged us all out of the house, even John, when Dean was confident it was ready to be fired up and ready to be driven. Tori did the honors by turning the key, all of us standing around the car expectantly. The engine purred to life and Tori jumped out of the front seat screaming happily. She’d raised her arms above her head and ran to Dean, basically jumping on him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her off the ground in a close to bone crushing hug while the rest of us cheered for them. They took the car for a ride, Dean driving, Tori riding shotgun and her brothers and Sam rode in the back seat. John and I watched as they turned off the lot, a smile actually plastered on John’s face, proud that the skills he’d taught his son had been passed on to a sweet girl who deserved nothing more than to be happy. 

The car got a whole new paint job a week later and became the car the Vallens used all the time. Tori had to wait till she was fifteen and half to be allowed to drive but it was always known as being her car. She babied it just like Dean babied his impala but let other people drive it often; meanwhile, Dean nearly never let others drive his. 

“I don’t want to hear it right now, West.” Tori said, not taking her attention off the chrome rims she polished.   
“That’s why I came instead.” I said, twisting open the beers. Tori turned to look and me, sighing, she sat down on the gravel and leaned back against the car. I went to sit beside her and handed her one of the beers I held. He took a large sip and sighed again. I just took a sip of my own and patted her knee.   
“I won’t agree to hiding you, Tori, but I sure as hell will look out for you, just like I already do.” I said “This is big news and a lot to take in but we’ll deal with it, just like we do with anything else that ever gets in our way.” Her grey eyes looked into mine and she smiled a small smile.   
“Thanks Bobby.” She said. I nodded and we just sat like that for a while. Tori talked a lot, but when she felt like stewing, it was best to let her be quiet with her thoughts. So we sat together, under the warm sun, drinking our beers. When we both finished I took her empty bottle and nodded towards the trunk of her car. I knew she had some steam she needed to let off. So she stood up, opened the trunk and pulled out her bow and two arrows. I stood up as she notched the arrow on the string, getting into a shooting stance. I tossed the bottle as high as I could into the air and Tori calmly but swiftly lifted the bow and released the arrow, hitting the bottle dead on, spraying broken glass into the rusty car graveyard. I smiled.   
“Every time.” I said. Tori never missed. I threw the next bottle and she hit it just as easily and cleanly as the first. I looked back at Tori and was glad to see her smiling, feeling a little more like herself as she held and used her favorite weapon. She reached in the trunk to grab another arrow, notched and pointed it to the sky again.   
“How about duck for dinner?” She said and I looked up just in time to see a mallard duck fly over the shed and Tori shot it down.   
“Did you see that coming?” I asked, wondering about her visions after learning about her being a prophet. She just pursed her lips, her eyebrows raised and nodded, making her way to the fallen mallard. Picking up the duck she’d shot right in the head, she removed the arrow, and wiped the bloody tip on a rag from the trunk. Placing her bow and arrow back into the trunk she shut it and made her way over to me, the duck hanging, wings spread out around her leg. I put and arm around her shoulders and started walking back towards the house.   
“I love duck.” I said and Tori laughed. 

Once we got back to the house, Tori stayed outside to pluck the feathers off the bird and I went on in. All four boys looked up at me expectantly.   
“She shot a bird, looks like we’re having duck for dinner.” I said and grabbed today’s newspaper. They all seemed to lean forward, all wanting to go and talk to her but I held a hand up. “She’s fine, she just has to take it all in, leave her be. Plucking that bird is just the repetitive thoughtless job she needs, just like them bracelets.” I said and settled myself into a chair, unfolding the paper. 

 

—Tori—

I pulled the feathers from the mallard, the light breeze taking some of them away from me. I heard words coming from in the house but they were too muffled and I couldn’t bring myself to care enough to try and listen. I had a million thoughts and a blank mind all at the same time. Athena and prophecy hung in the background, while my mind wandered in the simple calm I’d gotten from pulling back the bowstring. It had been a while since I had felt the bow bend under my strength, since I watched my arrow fly to a target. I couldn’t use it on very many hunts so it usually went untouched, as it stayed strapped to the roof of the trunk. Too soon my fingers couldn’t grasp any more feathers as I’d pulled them all out already. I looked at the mess of feathers scattered around my feet and on my lap, falling around the steps I sat on. A couple of green feathers caught my eye and I swooped them up to look at them. The light caught the feather at different angles, creating different shades of green. The deepest and darkest part of the feather replicated the color of Ian and Dean’s green eyes perfectly. As I shifted the feather in the light another part of it went to a lighter shade. The light shade of green, almost like grass that had been without water for a while right before it turned yellow or brown, glinted and Sam’s eyes looked back at me. West’s eyes where light green, as well, almost similar to Sam’s but West had different flecks of gold in them that Sam didn’t. I ran my fingers over both sides of the feather, feeling its silkiness and the bristles mixed slightly, brown peeking through some of the green and now West’s eye color jumped out at me. 

Before I even knew what I was doing I grabbed four green feathers and a grey one fanning them out with the tips help close together between my fingers. I walked to the Chevelle, the feathers held tightly in my hand and opened the door to the back seat. I rummaged through a bag and found my other stock of bracelet string. Grabbing two blue strings of two different shades, I sat on the seat and started weaving the string around the feather stems, tying them all together. When I was done the feathers all held tightly together by the string that had a zigzagging pattern with the two tones of blue. I grabbed a safety pin and went to the front to sit in front of the steering wheel. I pinned the feathers onto the inside of the sun visor next to an old picture of Mom, Dad and Uncle Vince, their arms wrapped over each others shoulders or waists, smiles as bright as could be. I touched the picture and then the feathers beside it. My family, all together in one place. 

I went back into the house and washed the duck, cutting up some onions, carrots and potatoes, throwing it all together in a roasting pan. I spread butter over the duck and sprinkled it with different herbs. Turning the oven on, I covered the duck and vegetables with a lid and slid it into the oven. I stared at the oven for a bit, my hands on my hips, wondering what to do now. The duck needed at least and hour to cook and I didn’t feel like talking to anyone just yet. So I hastily wrote a note. 

Dinner needs to cook for an hour.   
I’ll be back before it’s done.

—T 

I looked at the note. Ian would hate if I didn’t write where I was going, but I didn’t know yet, so I wrote the time and said that I had my phone with me. I left it beside the oven, knowing someone would find it as soon as they smelled the food cooking. I walked out the door and went back to the car. I jumped behind the wheel and turned the key. The machine roared to life and I realized how much I’d missed it since I’d left with Sam and Dean. Baby was great but there was nothing like hearing my own pride and joy purring, and the comfortable feeling of the steering wheel. I pulled out of the lot and drove, heading nowhere in particular. My charm bracelet jingled and glinted each time I turned the wheel and I thought of the Athenian owl that hung off of it. Ian and West had added it because it was the symbol of Athena and because Bobby called me Athena. I even always had a thing about owls. There always seemed to be one around if we found ourselves in the woods and when I was younger, I’d spend a long time looking at them through the fence at the zoo. I couldn’t believe all the things about my life that fit together after what I had learned today. 

I stopped at a department store to buy some more string since I only had a small selection left in the back seat. By then, it was time for me to head back if I wanted to be home before the duck was ready, so I turned out of the parking lot and headed back to Bobby’s. I was okay, though, I realized as I drove back. This was my life now and apparently had always been, so I accepted it.

I parked beside Baby when I got back and grabbed my bags out of the impala to bring up to my room. When I opened the front door, four concerned faces laid eyes on me and physically relaxed. I kicked off my shoes and gave them a lazy salute and brought my bags upstairs before saying anything. I noticed the smell of the bird cooking as I came back downstairs and went straight to the kitchen. I noticed my note had been moved from the oven to the table so I tossed it in the trash when I walked by. I opened the oven door and was rewarded with a big delicious waft of roasted vegetables, melted butter, duck and rosemary. I pulled the pan out with oven mitts and took off the lid. Steam billowed up from the food and the perfectly roasted appearance of the food made my stomach growl.   
“Okay, guys, come and get it.” I said, raising my voice enough for them to hear me in the next room.   
“I feel like I’ve been waiting hours for you to say that.” Dean said, the first one to come into the kitchen. 

 

—Sam—

As I walked into the kitchen, Tori seemed back to her normal self. She smiled at Dean’s comment and pulled down a stack of plates. Her grey eyes that had darkened like a sea before a storm with dark blue mixing in with the grey when she was angry had faded back to their normal color. The light grey of the ashes from a fire that got tossed into the air that would later fall in your hair or on your clothes was present now, like the fire of the storm had faded out, leaving the pale remnants of burnt wood to fly in the wind. Once we were all seated, plates full of vegetable and perfectly cooked duck, everyone dug in. no conversation had until each plate was scraped clean. 

“Tori,” Ian started, his tone apologetic but Tori stopped him, holding up a hand. Her grey eyes looked like steal as she met each of our eyes, serious.   
“I get it. I know why you guys look out for me like you do and I appreciate it, I look out for all of you too. I love each and every one of you and nothings ever going to change that. But I’m never going to hide and neither of you are going to make me. So I’m the daughter of Athena and I’m a prophet, but I’m still me and we’re not going to change how I live. That’s for me to decide.” She paused to let it sink in a bit. “And as for this ‘danger’, if there even is one, I’m going to hit it head on just like any other thing we come across.” She accentuated her point by pointing a finger down on the table. “Now, I’ve always known about my visions, and I know they’re getting stronger and more frequent but I never played it off as more because I haven’t seen anything more crucial or life changing than the occasional booby trap or deer on the highway. As for daughter of Athena, it’s what I’ve always been so that’s not changing anything. I’ve accepted it. So I just have one condition. Please don’t treat me any different because of it, I’m not a piece of china that going to shatter if you touch me.” Tori looked right into my eyes at the china part. “I’m not going to fall into a coma or something if I have a vision, when they happen I see it and when I blink my eyes, no time has passed.” She looked at Ian there. “And finally, yes, Dean, you can have another serving of duck.” She finished by flashing her teeth at Dean, her serious steel eyes softening to the color of the spots on the moon. Dean smiled back and reached to add more food to his plate. If I wasn’t confident that Tori was okay before, her honest smile now solidified it. 

“Well then,” Bobby said, raising his glass. “To Tori, and that amazing duck we just ate.” We all raised a glass and clinked them together.  
“To Tori!” We all said, save Tori, her face just blushed as we did, a hand going up to her warm cheek. Ian leaned over beside Tori and wrapped an arm around her neck to bring her close and kiss the top of her head.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone comes to terms with the new information about Tori. Things progress between Sam and Tori.

After cleaning up the dishes I joined Tori on the couch as she watched some TV. The history channel played a documentary about a South African tribe and Tori watched intently, soaking up as much information as she could. As soon as I sat down and settled into a comfortable position, Tori leaned over till her head rested on my shoulder. She pulled up her knees and slid a blanket from off the back of the couch and draped it over her knees, sighing when she was warm and comfortable. I relaxed too, knowing for sure, again, that Tori was all right. I could hear her breathing slow and I knew she was drifting off to sleep. I thought of how fast her face had healed and I itched so see how her stitches were doing. I knew Ian and West were downstairs with Dean making salt filled shotgun shells so I knew it was safe to ask.   
“Tori?” I said, knowing she hadn’t fallen asleep yet.   
“Hmm?” she said, her eyes fluttering open.   
“How’re your stitches?” I asked. She shrugged and lifter her head off my shoulder.   
“You tell me.” She said, lying on her left side on the rest of the couch and lifted the right side of her shirt to reveal the bandage. Her eyes closed again and I reached to pull off the dressing. The cut had healed nicely, and extremely quickly for how deep it was. The skin had fused together and the stiches needed to come out before the skin grew around them.   
“These have to come out, Tori.” I said matter of factly, trying to hide the surprise in my voice.   
“Then proceed, nurse.” She said, her lips tugging up into a small sleepy smile, her eyes remained closed as she teased me. I got up and gathered some tweezers, small surgical scissors, antibacterial and some cotton balls. Coming back to the couch I sat on the floor to get closer to the stitches without having to bend down. Sterilizing her stitches, scissors and tweezers I rested an arm on her hip to stabilize my hand. I tried not to look at the black mesh strap of the side of her bra while I used the tweezers to pull on the stitch and cut it. I managed to do it until Tori laughed lightly and put her fingers on the mesh and around the stitches.   
“It kind of tickles.” She said, taking her hand away, resulting in her shirt being pushed up a bit more, revealing more of the mesh and more of her rib cage around the front, her belly button peeking out from the hem of the shirt. I held my breath to stop myself from laying my whole palm and fingers on her hip and sliding them over her stomach. Tori was like a sister, but I loved her more than that. 

When I finished removing the stitches I could tell Tori had fallen asleep and my eyes lingered on her skin as I put a fresh Band-Aid and pulled the shirt down. I went to gather the tools and cringed when the metal tweezers slid out of my hand and clanked on the coffee table.   
“Sam?” Tori said, her voice layered in sleep.   
“Yeah?” I said looking back down at her.  
“What time is it?” She asked.   
“Well, judging by how sleepy you are, time for bed.” I said grabbing her hand and pulling her up. She didn’t complain or fight to stay in front of the TV. She zombie walked to the stairs but then stopped.   
“What’s the matter?” I asked, taking a few steps up to her. She came over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I hugged her back.   
“Thanks, Sam.” She said into my shirt.   
“For what?” I asked, resting my chin on her head.   
“For being you.” She said, holding me a little tighter and breathing in deeply and then letting her breath go. I chuckled lightly.   
“Anytime, Tori.” I said. “Anytime.” 

She let go a little while after and made her rounds. Giving West and Ian a kiss on the cheek, Dean a hug and Bobby a shoulder hug over the back of his chair. When she came back upstairs I was still there, sitting on the couch.  
“Goodnight, Sam.” She said and I raised a hand, not turning to look at her.   
“Yeah, sleep tight.” I said. All of a sudden her face came from behind me and she pecked a quick kiss on my check. Then she was gone up the stairs, my skin memorizing the feel of her lips on my cheek. 

 

—Tori—

My heart was still beating fast as I lie in bed from giving Sam a kiss on his cheek. I hadn’t stayed long enough to see what his reaction was but my lips still tingled. Every once in a while the muscle in my bottom lip would twitch as if yelling at me for not giving Sam a real kiss. I debated going back downstairs to jump on that couch, push Sam down against the cushions and kiss him again but on the lips. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair and coax his lips open with my own. I craved to have his hands on my bare rib cage again like he did when he stitched me up and to feel his heart beat fast like mine. But I knew better. Falling in love was risky business in our lifestyle. We were already an open target by the fact that we would all die for each other, die for family. On the other hand, there could be plus sides to it. We’d both understand that we could never settle down, that the hunting business was a lifelong commitment. I didn’t want any kids, and being with Sam wouldn’t make me want to die any more or any less for him. I’d already do it now, so that wouldn’t change.

My mind raced and I had to slap myself out of it. It couldn’t happen. There would be too much heartache if something happened. Sam would never leave Dean and I’d never leave my own brothers. My lip twitched. Sam. I’d never wanted to kiss him so badly before. Sure there had been a couple of people at the bar that I’d kissed but just the simple peck on Sam’s cheek had me pulsating for more. What was a kiss, right? It didn’t have to lead to more; I just needed Sam to hold me in his strong arms and to taste his lips. Maybe it was the whole Athena thing, but I didn’t feel an overpowering need to sleep with him, I wanted to, but right now all I wanted was for his fingers to be on me. To know he was real, to know he cared and I wanted more than anything for him to know how much I cared for him. I threw off my covers and was about to get out of bed when I heard someone coming up the stairs.   
“Well, I don’t know about you but the whole resolving of this message from Mom thing has really got me beat, I can finally relax a bit.” Ian said.   
“Tell me about it, and Tori seems good.” West said. Their voices got quieter as they came up the stairs thinking I was asleep. I pulled the covers back over myself and turned so that I faced the wall. Ian and West came into the room we all shared and I listened while they bustled about the room, getting ready for bed.   
“Night, guys.” I heard Dean say from the hall.   
“Yeah, g’night, man.” Ian said. My heart started beating a little faster again as I waited to hear Sam going to bed too. After a few minutes, my brothers settled in their beds and I even heard Dean fall back onto his squeaky bed through the wall since his was directly beside mine against the wall on the other side. 

I remembered when Bobby got another bed put in the room for me so I didn’t have to sleep with Ian or West. I had been put to bed early and lied awake unable to sleep. I heard Dean go to bed a while later and heard the springs in his bed squeak as he lay down in it. He must have been fluffing his pillow when he knocked on the wall by accident. I had smiled and quickly knocked the wall back. Dean knocked back as if to make sure he really had heard something. I knocked again, laughing softly.   
“Tori?” Dean said questionably through the wall. I laughed louder then, unable to hold it in. I heard Dean chuckle too and every once in a while, we’d knock at each other, sometimes by accident, other times just to annoy the other.

 

—Dean—

I fell back onto my bed, the springs squeaking under me. Today had been interesting, but everything made sense. I had been concerned for Tori as she’d gone off angrily to the back and even more concerned when I found her note beside the oven. When she’d gotten back, though, she seemed like herself again. Her genuine smile, the one I knew she could never force, had made its appearance again and I was able to relax a bit. I sighed now as I lay in bed, wondering about who would try and come after Tori. I quickly decided it didn’t matter though, because they’d have to go through me first and I swear to god, if anyone tried to hurt her. I didn’t finish the thought. I heard a quick double knock on the wall, Hello, and I turned towards it. Tori and my bed both ran lengthwise along the same wall on either side. I smiled and knocked twice back, Hey. This happened every so often and if I’d needed something else to convince me that Tori was okay, this was it. After my double knock, she responded with a single, quieter knock, Goodnight, and I did the same. Yeah, Tori was okay, just like she always was. 

 

—Tori—

I woke up and rolled over in bed, laying eyes on West and Ian who were still fast asleep. The knowledge from the day before almost seemed like a dream, was it really true? But reality quickly sank in and I knew what I was. A daughter of Athena. Then a thought occurred to me, if being semi-divine, or whatever I could call myself, made me heal really quickly, maybe it’s why I never seemed to need as much sleep as everyone else. The majority of the time, after driving all night, I only went to sleep because my brothers told me too. I had basically only fallen asleep on the couch last night because I had wanted to. I had wanted to fall asleep feeling Sam’s body beside me, his warmth radiating towards me. I had slept late in the hotel the previous morning because my last thought before bed was that I didn’t want it to end, my week with the Winchesters. Sleeping late meant spending a couple more hours with them. Possibilities stretched before me. What else could I do? I now knew that it was the main reason why I was so good at fighting, strategizing and remembering and learning things. The reason why I’d been making patterned string bracelets for as long as I could remember. Was it the reason why I could handle harder hits from monsters? What else was Athena known to be good at? 

I threw my blankets off and brought some clothes to the bathroom to get dressed. I braided my hair and tugged my baseball cap on. The house was still quiet and I realized I hadn’t even checked the time. Quietly going down the stairs I glanced at the clock as I came into the kitchen. It was five a.m., bobby wouldn’t even be up for at least another hour, as for the boys, Ian probably needed a bit longer but they’d all be up around eight. I spread peanut butter over a piece of bread and filled a glass with milk, walking out the back door with both. I dug through Bobby’s mechanical shed after finishing my small breakfast. I laughed shortly out loud when I found what I was looking for. Bobby had an old spear from who knows where and why and it had been discarded in the shed proving to be useless since it couldn’t be used on hunts anyways. I spun it in my hands, feeling the smooth wood against my skin, my fingers leaving marks on the dust that had settled on it. I grabbed an old rag and wiped off the dust, the metal pointed head of the spear glinting in the natural light that filtered through the shed. 

I stood on the gravel facing an old target made of hay bails I used to use for target practice, the spear in my hand. When I held it upright, it was nearly a foot taller than me. It was light but sturdy in my hand and thought of the many movies I’d seen where spears were used. I lifted the spear above my shoulder, the tip pointing on the direction of the target. The action felt familiar somehow and I threw the spear. I seemed to watch it in slow motion as the weapon flew towards the target. I had to blink a couple of times and take a few steps forward before my eyes saw what happened. The spear had flown right into the bull’s-eye and my jaw dropped but I also felt like I’d done it many times before. Walking right up to the target, I was impressed to see that the spear had lodged itself right into the hay bail, the metal tip pointing six inches out the back. A smile spread across my face, as I braced a foot on the bail and yanked out the spear. I retreated further than I was before and threw the spear. Again I hit the target dead on and I jumped slightly with excitement. Being the child of Athena sure had its perks. 

 

—Ian—

When I opened my eyes and found Tori’s bed empty I didn’t think anything of it, since she was always up before West or me. I sat up quickly, however, when I remembered the message from Mom, Tori was in danger, someone knew of her power and wanted her. West’s bed was empty as well, so I jumped out of bed and quickly went down the stairs. I found no one in the kitchen but evidence of breakfast was left behind, dirty dishes in the sink and the fading smell of burnt toast. I looked out the window of the back door to find West and Sam’s tall frames standing in the bend of the gravel path, half obscured by a pile of rusty cars. Walking out the door to see what they were looking at I saw Dean and Bobby watching too as I came closer.   
“What’s go—” I said but was shushed when Sam turned and put a finger over his lips. I frowned and brushed past him to see. We were all slightly hidden behind another pile of cars, but able to watch through the glassless windowpanes on the cars. Looking through I saw Tori and my first thought was that she was dancing, but as I watched the movements I was quickly told otherwise. She held a spear in her hand, spinning it and swinging it expertly this way and that like she’d been doing it for years. But I knew for a fact that Tori had never picked up a spear in her life. She’d set up a couple of the hay bail targets and potato sack figures we used when we trained at intervals in a circle around her. She spun the spear over and around her body smoothly and swiftly as she stabbed each target or figure, cleanly pulling out the tip to spin and plunge it into the next target faster than I’d ever seen her move before, and that was saying something. Tori was fast. Every once in a while she’d spin the spear tip down and drive it into the gravel and use the plunged spear to support herself as she brought up both feet to kick the closest object, breaking the wooden stick in the middle that held the figure together. We all watched quietly, amazed, afraid to make a noise and distract her. 

Tori seemed to improve right before our eyes, if that was even possible, and I felt as if I was actually watching Athena battle monsters right in front of me. She was fast and graceful, her steps leaving patterns in the gravel and she was beautiful. Hey face was completely free of worry or stress as she delivered blow after blow. Her long braid whipped around her and she didn’t even look like she was getting tired. She took out the last figure, breaking the wooden support and had to stop, with nothing else to hit. Tori looked at the broken figure, still in a sort of battle stance when we got the idea, all at the same time, to cheer. We clapped our hands as Dean let out a few whoops and woofs while West whistled loudly, two fingers in his mouth. Tori’s head snapped towards us as the sound broke out and we came out from behind the cars. She relaxed from her battle stance as a smile broke across her face and blood rushed up into her cheeks, blushing all the way to her ears. She expertly spun the spear and drove it into the ground, leaving it to stand on it’s own while she came towards us. Dean grabbed her shoulders and started massaging like a coach to a wrestler right after leaving the ring, I pushed her cap down over her face and Sam held out a glass of orange juice I assume he’d taken from the kitchen when he realized what was going on. Tori pushed her cap back up and took the juice, downing it in a couple of quick gulps. Bobby walked over to the spear, touched the handle then went to lift it from the ground. He frowned when it didn’t come out as easily as he thought and had to use both arms to pull out the spear tip that Tori had driven about six inches down. We all raised our eyebrows as we watched Bobby pull out the spear and then looked at Tori.  
“Right, so how strong are you again?” Dean asked. Tori spun under his hands and looked at him.  
“I don’t know.” She said pensively. “Let’s find out.” And then she was pulling Dean by his arm towards an outdoor set of a table and a couple of chairs. She pushed him down onto one of the chairs and then settled in another one a across from him. She put her elbow on the table and held her hand up, fingers open. She smiled at Dean and wiggled her fingers. Let’s arm wrestle, She challenged.   
“No no, common.” He said, starting to get out of the chair.   
“What, are you afraid I’m going to beat you?” Tori teased. Dean froze in his half siting half standing position. He sat back down slowly and put his arm on the table, taking her hand in his.   
“Alright, fine, but no complaining about me eating all the popcorn when I win. Deal, sweetheart?” He said. Tori rolled her eyes.   
“Deal.” She said and repositioned herself on her chair. West, Sam, Bobby and I couldn’t help but lean forward, waiting to see the outcome.   
“3, 2, 1, go.” She said and their arms clenched, their biceps pumped up, Tori’s small but still toned and Dean’s almost four times the size of Tori’s. 

—Tori—

I immediately felt Dean pushing on my hand, starting off easier but then applying more force when he noticed I easily matched his strength. My eyes never lost his while we sat there smiling at each other each applying more force and the other matching it. Eventually I looked down and noticed a vein popping out of Dean’s arm and I realized how strong I actually was. Dean was really trying and I felt like I was barely breaking a sweat. I’d practiced fighting with the boys often but never got to see how strong I really was for fear of hurting each other. All of a sudden I realized that I didn’t want them to know how strong I was, they would never look at me the same, and Dean would be sour for a while if I beat him. When Dean applied even more strength, I faked a convincing look that I was struggling to hold him. I shook my hand slightly making it look like I was trying to give all I had and slowly let Dean push my arm over. When my knuckles hit the table I let out the breath I was holding and slackened my whole body as if I was tired, but I’d never felt stronger.   
“Hah, I won, no more complaining about popcorn.” Dean said, all smiles. “But you are a lot stronger than you look. I already knew you were strong, but, Tori, you met my strength each time I applied more until the last two bits. That’s very impressive.” Dean congratulated me. I smiled and felt my cheeks blush, genuinely warmed by his compliment, even though I’d secretly let him win. I looked at the rest of the men standing around Dean and me. Bobby wore a proud expression towards me, West looked at my arms as if he still hadn’t believed that I’d done as well as I had and Ian looked as if he finally understood that he didn’t have to baby me anymore. He looked into my eyes with a somber look that a parent would give their child as they left for college. Proud but sad that their baby was all grown up. Suddenly, I was overcome by love for my brother and how he’s spent his whole life looking out for me like a big brother should and I jumped up to wrap my arms around him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before burying my face in his shirt collar.   
“Ian, I’ll always be your little sister.” I said quietly, trying my best to reassure him. Sure, I’d grown up, I was strong, I was a prophet and I was the freaking daughter of a goddess who was thought to be fictional but I wasn’t going anywhere. West came behind me to wrap his arms around me and Ian and I stuck my head up to look around.   
“Group hug!” I said excitedly, reaching an arm out and grabbing Bobby’s shirt, pulling him towards us and I laughed as Sam’s long arms and tall figure towered over beside Ian and me. Bobby reached around West and Ian with me in the middle. Peeking under Sam’s arm I saw Dean had shied away from the lame group hug, laughing, not interested in having any part in it.   
“Dean Winchester.” I said, catching his attention. “You get right over here and you join this cheesy but also amazing group hug.” I said sternly and he raised his eyebrows at me. But a small smile appeared on his face as he walked closer to us. Sam lifted an arm and Ian took an arm off of me to open a spot of Dean. As soon as he was close enough, Sam and Ian’s arms came down over Dean, pulling him in and incorporating him in the hug. As everyone broke out laughing, we all seemed to squeeze each other once more and then we released each other. 

I noticed the sun suddenly, realizing that it was in a completely different spot then earlier.   
“Wait, what time is it?” I asked, they all checked their watches at the same time.   
“It’s about nine-thirty.” Bobby said and my eyes widened. I’d been spinning and throwing a spear around since about five a.m.  
“Oh, and how long exactly where you guys sneakily watching for?” I asked, feeling my cheeks get warm again.   
“Well, I got up around six and noticed your peanut butter on the counter but with you nowhere to be seen. So I went around back thinking you’d be tinkering with your car again, only to find you here. I didn’t dare interrupt your focus so I watched for a bit then went back to the kitchen to find Sam, Dean and West up so when they asked where you were after a bit, I bought them back. So I’d say we’ve been watching you go from throwing a killer spear into the bulls-eye of a target, watched you slowly spin it around then gain speed and then watched as you flawlessly attacked each of the targets since about eight-thirty. Ian only got here about ten minutes before you finished off the practice dummies.” Bobby explained and I felt my jaw drop slightly. They had been standing and watching for hours.   
“Yeah, I mean we took breaks, going back into the house to get another cup of coffee or to eat something but we just watched you progress into a spear fighter with so much skill that should have taken months or years to learn and you did it right in front of us in about three hours.” Dean explained, resting his hands on his hips.   
“Bunch of weirdoes.” I muttered, not too impressed that they’d stayed hidden, watching me for so long. “But speaking of coffee and food, I’d love some.” I said raising my voice to a normal tone.   
“You must feel like you’ve just run a marathon.” Sam said, his hands clasping onto my shoulders, his head coming around the side of mine to look into my face. I cocked my head to think about it, but I wasn’t tired or sore, if anything I felt more focused and stronger than I ever had. I shrugged under Sam’s hands.   
“Nope, I feel fine.” I said and grabbed one of Sam’s hands as they slid off my shoulders and linked it in my arm. “You however, you will assume I’m lying and make me some scrambled eggs.” I said to Sam, starting to pull him with me in the direction of the house.   
“As you say, your majesty.” Sam joked and I laughed with him as I took his hand from my arm and laced my fingers in with his as we walked to the house. 

I watched Sam’s back over my steaming cup of coffee as he cooked my eggs. I hadn’t heard him go to bed the previous night so I wondered how long he’d stayed up for. I couldn’t bring myself to ask, though, because I was distracted by the way he stood. He leaned most of his weight on one leg and then every once in a while he’d shift to the other leg, making his jeans shift with him and pull my eyes to his butt. I felt my cheeks blush as I realized I was flat out staring at him. I watched as he reached up into a side cabinet for a plate and tip the frying pan, scraping the eggs on to the plate with a fork. He turned to face me and I pried my eyes from his body to look at his face. Sam came over and placed the food on the table in front of me, and sat in the chair next to me.   
“There you go, just how you like ‘em.” Sam said, settling back into his chair.   
“Thanks Sam.” I said and grabbed my fork, stabbing some egg and popping it into my mouth. 

When I finished, Sam was on his computer, presumably looking for his next case. I stretched out my legs under the table in front of me and my arms over my head. I didn’t even think about doing it, since I used to do it all the time when Sam helped me with homework or when we worked on some new lore, I stretched my legs completely out and rested my socked feet in Sam’s lap. Just like every time I’d done it, Sam’s hand came down and patted the top of my feet, his eyes never leaving the screen. I grabbed a newspaper that was on the table and started reading it as Bobby, Dean, Ian and West all came through the door laughing. Sam and I looked up to see the commotion, then looked at each other questioningly.   
“What’s so funny?” I asked, incredibly curious.   
“West…” Ian started but was interrupted by his own laughter. I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading on my face as I looked from each man, laughing whole heartedly and then I looked at West, who was also laughing but was covered in dirt and had gravel dust in his dark hair. Once everyone got a hold of themselves, Ian was able to tell what happened.   
“West, after you two left, got a great idea to try his own hand at that spear. So he picked it up and tried throwing it to a target, no bulls-eye like our lovely Tori over here, but at least he brushed the target. Anyways then he tried the whole spinning it around thing, he somehow managed to catch the spear tip in his shirt making the handled end whack him in the face! And to further try something stupid, he drove the tip in the ground and tried to double kick a target just like you had.” Ian said, tears of laughter still watering his eyes. “But he didn’t drive it in far enough so when he went to kick, the spear fell over and so did West, face hits the gravel and a cloud of dust goes up around him.” Ian laughed silently again, his shoulders shaking as he wiped a tear from his eye. Sam and I started laughing now as well, just because the others still couldn’t shake their own laughter off just yet.   
“Yeah, I guess I just can’t compete with the daughter of Athena anymore.” West said, shaking dust out of his hair.   
“Oh please, I’ve been beating you at everything except getting out of crazy knots for, like, ever.” I said, teasing him.   
“Liar.” West said and started making his way towards me in his dusty clothes, his arms spread wide. “D’you want a hug?” West challenged, a smirk on his face. I jumped up from my chair, ready to escape, but West caught me and wrapped his big arms around me. Lifting me off the ground and squeezing me as hard as he could. I let out a shriek mixed with laughter as he squeezed me and I felt I might get crushed. When he let me go, laughing, I sucked in a breath but couldn’t hold it because of my laughing. West walked away, chuckling, to take a shower and Bobby disappeared to do something. I sat back down, putting my feet on Sam’s lap again and spread my arms out beside me.   
“Welp, looks like I don’t need to see the chiropractor after that, I can’t even tell you how many pops I heard.” I stretched. “Feels good, West should crush me more often.” I joked and Ian, Sam and Dean laughed. I picked up the paper again as Ian and Dean sat down at the table with Sam and I. I leafed through the paper and went to the comics section, pulling it out I slid it over to Dean, knowing he’d love the bad jokes for sure. Folding the paper to his liking, Dean read the comics, a small smile appearing every once in a while. Ian noticed this and leaned over to read with Dean. Now both of them smiled together, liking the same bad jokes. I continued to read the paper, looking for any leads on a case and soon Ian and Dean got up to do something, leaving Sam and me alone in the kitchen. 

I felt Sam’s hand on my foot again randomly; I kept my face in the paper though, trying not to look at him. His fingers rested on top of my foot and his thumb started tracing a circle around and around the jutting out bone on the inside of my ankle. I peeked over the paper and saw Sam staring at the computer screen, scrolling through the page with his free hand. The longer he drew circles, the more relaxed I got, more than happy to just have his hand on me. I knew it would kill me one day, but I couldn’t live without other people. I needed emotional and physical proximity with people or I’d go crazy. My biggest fear was being alone and I’d never admit it, but I’d probably kill myself if I ever ended up alone. Of course I longed for Sam’s touch so much more, but I longed for Dean too sometimes, if I hadn’t seen him in a while, I longed for his presence, the air of his protective big brother attitude that was so much like Ian’s but still different and the smell of him, motor oil and leather. I’d long for the smell of Bobby, the comforting smell of whiskey and old books. All week with the Winchesters, I’d craved to hear West’s laugh, to hear Ian sing and most strongly, I longed to be able to kiss them goodnight. I was happiest when we were all together, hearing Ian and West fight over the remote, Sam browsing the internet beside me, Bobby answering the five different phones he had, covering a bunch of other hunters’ asses and Dean cleaning his guns and sharpening his knives. 

Sam’s finger stopped and I looked over the newspaper; only to meet his eyes looking right back at me. The light green of his eyes silently spoke to me.   
“You found a case didn’t you?” I asked, or more or less told. Sam nodded, his expression a little sad. “I don’t want you to leave.” I said at the same time that Sam said, ‘I don’t want to leave.’  
We just looked at each other for a bit, surprised that we’d said the same thing. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d gotten up off my chair and sat down sideways on Sam’s lap, looping an arm around his neck, his surprised eyes looking closely into mine. I touched his lips with the tips of my fingers on my free hand. Sam reached up and took my baseball cap off, taking the shade off of my eyes. Putting the cap down on the table softly, he reached back up and brushed loose strands of hair away from my face, his fingers lingering on my temple and cheek bone.   
“We shouldn’t.” Sam said under my fingers, stopping both of us from going any further. I lightly traced his top lip.   
“We won’t.” I said, a sullen look on my face. We just sat like that, staring into each other’s eyes, his fingers on my face, mine on his lips. Eventually I couldn’t handle it anymore and I buried my face into his shoulder and neck.   
“But I want to.” I breathed onto his neck, his hair moving around my words. Sam’s arms came around my back and he hugged me tight.   
“Me too.” Sam said back, and we both took a deep breath. All of a sudden Sam had taken a hand off my back and slid it under my legs, he stood up, carrying me bridal style and went to the back door. He kicked the screen door open and walked down the steps before putting me down, releasing everything but my hand, linking his fingers in mine.   
“Let’s go for a walk.” He said and I smiled, using my other hand to wrap it around Sam’s arm.   
“Lead the way, Chief.” I said, and off we went. 

We walked through the tall grass of empty lots, the sun beating down on us at a perfect temperature. Eventually we came across a big tree and silently agreed to sit under it. We sat with our back to the tree, our legs stretched out in front of us and we talked. We talked about things uncase related that we’d done when we were apart. Sam told me about the Grand Canyon since I wanted to go and I told him about the time my brothers and I chose to go to New York. I described the lights in Time Square, the rushed people that would push you over if you were in their way and the Guggenheim with the most Greek and Roman artifacts I had ever seen. At some point while I spoke, I slouched down and laid myself flat on the grass, looking at the sky through the green leaves of the tree we sat under. Sam did the same and our hands joined together between us like magnets to metal. At some point we both went quiet and all I could think about was Sam, his hand in mine, his body next to mine and the fact that we were alone. 

Finally, I heard Sam sigh and it shot me into action. I rolled over and swung a leg over Sam, still keeping his hand in mine. He looked up at me surprised as I straddled over his waist on my knees, our linked hands resting on his chest.   
“Tori.” Sam said, his voice lined with caution, but also desire.   
“Sam.” I said, lowering myself to get my face closer to his. Our eyes searched each other’s, waiting for the silent cue to keep going, neither of us would do anything unless the other one agreed.   
“Nothing’s going to change if this happens, Sam.” I said and he responded with a frown. “I already miss you like hell when we’re apart and I’d already die for you, it’s been that way basically since I met you.” Sam’s expression softened with each passing word and his free hand came to rest on my thigh. “See that,” I said, pointing to his hand on my leg. “That makes me feel like electricity is running through my body, but in a good way, like I can do anything when I’m with you.” I finished by taking my eyes away from his and using my free hand to touch the back of my neck, trying to cool it down.   
“Me too.” Sam whispered, causing my eyes to shoot back to his. I lowered down even closer, the only thing stopping my stomach and chest from touching Sam’s was our joined hands. My whole body hummed, anticipating what we were about to do, but I waited for that simultaneous sign. We both wanted too, but we also both knew we shouldn’t. We already missed each other when apart and would die for the other but somehow, we knew it could get more extreme than that. I touched his lips with my fingers again and waited, searching his eyes for the answer. My phone rang and I was ready to ignore it before I realized it was the ringer I kept to tell me it was Ian. Without moving my body or leaving Sam’s eyes, I took out my phone and put it on speakerphone, resting it on Sam’s chest.   
“Hello?” I said, moving my fingers back to Sam’s lips, brushing my thumb over his bottom lip, Sam started drawing circles with his own thumb on my thigh.   
“Hey, where are you?” Ian asked.   
“On a walk with Sam.” I said, finishing by sucking in a short breath as Sam started drawing straight lines up and down my thigh.   
“Are you alright? Just heard you breathe weird.” Ian said and I smiled about how little he knew.   
“Yes, I’m fine, a cicada jumped right in front of my face, spooked me a bit.” I lied, a smile pulling bigger at my lips.   
“Alright well Dean’s making burgers, they’ll be ready in about thirty minutes.” Ian told me.   
“Okay, see you then.” I said and flipped the phone shut. I slowly put the phone back into my pocket, as I did, Sam changed his pattern, zigzagging his fingers up and down my leg. I sucked in another breath and there was the sign. Sam’s eyes changed their shade of green and I brought my lips to his as I closed my eyes. 

The kiss started slow and soft and then both of us changed gears and began getting a little bit rougher. Our hands let go and my body went down the rest of the way to touch his chest. Sam grabbed my other thigh with his now free hand and squeezed both of his hands, causing me to grab and handful of his shirt and sigh, causing both our mouths to open. His mouth tasted like the orange juice he’d been drinking before we left and I put a hand on the back of his neck, as if trying to bring him closer then he already was. Sam’s hand came up my thigh, around the curve of my hip, up the side my body and to the back of my head. His fingers sent pleasant shivers down my spine and I sighed into his mouth, begging for more. I felt my hair loosen and Sam’s fingers ran through my hair, undoing the braid and letting hair fall around my face. I moaned as his fingers ran through my hair and rested on my scalp, his other hand had found its way onto my hip, touching the bare skin that had appeared as my shirt rode up a bit. I leaned my hip into his touch and bit his bottom lip softly. This time Sam moaned and rolled, putting me on my back and him hovering on top of me, touching, but careful not to crush me. I brought a hand up over him and brushed my fingers under his shirt on his spine, just barely higher than where the band of his briefs sat. Sam shook softly under my touch and he responded by releasing my lips and leaving a trail of kisses down my chin and neck. I took the chance to catch my breath and feel our hearts beating fast. Sam came back to my lips and pushed my arms over my head, his arms on top of mine, our hands intertwining together above my head. A lock of Sam’s hair tickled my eyelid and I giggled around his lips, causing me to open my eyes. Sam opened his eyes too then, light green grassy fields looking back at me. He placed a peck on my lips before getting up and pulling me up with him. Just like that we’d crossed a line we could never go back from. 

“We should go, or we’ll miss dinner.” Sam said, and I nodded.   
“Right, so where did you put my hair tie?” I asked looking around in the grass. Sam laughed and lifted his arm, showing the hair tie around his wrist. I braided my hair and Sam handed me the elastic when I was ready. We walked back to Bobby’s hand in hand, stealing quick kisses along the way and both of our stomachs growled when we rounded to corner and smelled meat cooking on the barbecue. Rounding the next corner, we found Dean flipping the patties with a beer in his hand. Our hands let go to each grab a plastic lawn chair from the table and bring it closer to Dean.   
“Hey, beautiful day, isn’t?” Dean said, looking up when we placed the chairs down. I could feel my face blush and I looked at Sam as he sat on one of the chairs.   
“Yes, yes it is.” I said. Walking right up to Dean I put my hands on his shoulders and went up on my tiptoes to see over him. The patties were nearly done and Dean was in the process of toasting some buns and putting cheese on the patties.   
“Need a plate?” I asked already turning towards the house to get one.   
“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.” Dean said over his shoulder. In the kitchen I found West cutting some tomatoes, Ian washing some lettuce and Bobby opening a new beer. They smiled at me when I came in and I got a large plate to put all the patties on and grabbed a washcloth. Leaving the plate beside Dean, I walked over to the table and gave it a wipe down.   
“Sam, wanna bring those chairs back? I think it’d be nice to eat outside today.” I said, giving more attention to a spot on the table and scrubbing away. Sam came to place one chair back and then the next.   
“Food’s on!” Dean yelled for the others to hear in the house too. I followed Dean back into the house, the plate of burger patties in his hand smelling delicious. Everyone built their burgers and followed me back outside to the table. Settled in, everyone began to eat. Halfway through my burger I realized I hadn’t brought a drink with me so I went to swipe Dean’s beer since he was sitting next to me.   
“Oi,” Dean said, taking the beer before I could. “The cooler is literally right over there.” He finished, pointing towards the old green cooler he kept in Baby. I smiled at Dean’s frown and got up to grab something from the cooler. Ian and West looked up at me as I got up, they wanted one too.   
“Sam?” I offered, noticing he didn’t have a drink either.   
“Yes, please.” He answered. I grabbed four beers, placed mine on the table, handed Ian and West theirs and then I gave Sam his. His fingers lingering on my hand when he grabbed the bottle. Sitting down again I opened my bottle and took a sip, shifting in my chair so that my right knee touched the side of Sam’s thigh. As usual everyone was done eating before I was so they all settled back in their chairs, carrying conversation. Sam kept one hand on his beer and the other one was under the table resting on my knee. When I finished my food, I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, soaking up the five o’clock sun while Sam drew circles on my knee again. A picture popped into my head, a car I didn’t recognize pulling onto Bobby’s lot. I lifted my head and opened my eyes.   
“Bobby, are you expecting someone?” I asked. All eyes turned to me and then a second later turned to Bobby.   
“No.” Bobby said slowly.   
“Well, someone’s going to turn onto the lot in…” I grabbed Dean’s wrist to look at his watch. “Eight minutes.” I finished, taking a sip of beer. All eyes kept looking at me, as if they were still having a hard time accepting my visions. I knew they’d all wondered about it for a long time but now that it was the truth, they didn’t know how to believe it.   
“Did you see who it was?” Bobby asked and I shook my head.   
“Driving a jeep, though, if that helps.” I explained and Bobby scratched his head.   
“Not ringing any bells.” Bobby said. All of a sudden Ian stood up and looked at me.   
“Tori, let’s go.” Ian said. All the other eyes, including mine turned to him.   
“What? Go where?” I said, frowning.   
“We don’t know who that is and I want to make sure you’re safe.” Ian explained, walking over and extending out a hand for me to take. I hit his hand away.   
“Oh for the love of God, I’m not going anywhere. Sure, we don’t know who it is, but it doesn’t mean that they’re a threat. Besides, there’s no safer place for me to be than here, wherever they are.” I said gesturing to everyone around me. “Go get a gun if you’re so paranoid, but I’m staying right here to enjoy my beer and thank Dean for the delicious burger.” I said finishing by smiling at Dean and clinking my bottle against his when he tipped it towards me. Ian’s responding expression wasn’t an impressed one. He was mad that I wouldn’t listen but fear stood out on his face more than ever. Sam saw Ian’s expression and tapped my knee under the table.   
“Ah Tori, why don’t we at least go inside? Give Ian at least a little piece of mind.” Sam offered, his face a little nervous, as if expecting me to reject his offer just as I had Ian’s. I looked at Sam and then to West who sat beside him. West’s face was pleading a little so I sighed and took another sip of beer.   
“Fine.” I said, getting up. “But I’m not going to sit all by myself.” I finished, holding a hand out to Sam for him to take. Sam got up and took my hand and I looked to anyone else, silently asking if they’d join us. No one answered, and I knew exactly why. They wanted to know who was coming. I just rolled my eyes and pulled Sam behind me, grabbing two more beers from the cooler as we walked by. 

We went up to the room I shared with my brothers and I grabbed my bag of colorful string. Sam sat on my bed, his back resting against the wall and I laid down with my head on his lap. With one knee propped up, I tried knots in a new bracelet that was safety pinned to my jeans. Sam pushed stray hairs away from my face and played with my braid, stroking the soft, unbraided ends. I talked about anything that came to mind but quickly shut my mouth when I heard a car coming up the gravel driveway. The picture of the jeep clearly in my mind, with enough detail, down to the license plate number. I stopped tying the intricate knots and reached a hand up over my head. Sam knew what I wanted and took my hand in his, bringing it up to kiss my knuckles. I closed my eyes as his lips brushed against my hand and felt him turn the charm bracelet on my wrist, examining the different charms like he had many times before. I felt and heard him chuckle softly.   
“Hmm?” I asked, keeping my eyes closed, focusing on his hand holding mine.   
“Looks like you’ll have to add another charm to this.” Sam said and I opened my eyes, wondering what charm he could mean.   
“Another charm?” I asked, tipping my head back a bit to see his face.   
“Yeah, you’ve got a bow and arrow, which you’re a total badass with, but now you need a spear too.” Sam said. “I thought you couldn’t get any more talented, but today…Tori, you’re amazing.” He finished, his eyes leaving the bracelet to look into mine. I reached up my other hand and grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulling him down to me. Our lips met for the fifth time today and my body hummed from it. My minds eye showed me a picture and I stopped and broke the kiss. Sam’s eyes opened, questioningly.   
“Dean’s coming in, ten, nine,” I pecked his lips quick and pushed Sam back up into an upright sitting position. “Seven, six” I combed down a couple of hairs that where sticking up on Sam’s head. “Five, four” I closed my mouth and held up three fingers, putting one down with the passing of the last three seconds. 

“What’s the word, Dean?” I said just as his head appeared in the door, his fist held up, ready to knock. His expression was blank when I spoke to him before he’d even appeared.   
“How…? Never mind.” Dean said, still getting used to the idea of me seeing the future. “It’s just another hunter Bobby knows, he got a new car, that’s why Bobby didn’t know the jeep, so you can relax.”   
“Hey I’m not the one—” I started to argue but Dean stopped me.   
“I know, Ian needs to take a chill pill, but can you blame him?” Dean said, walking towards Sam and me. Dean sat down on the bed and rested his arm on my up bent knee, leaning over to look at the bracelet I’d started to make.   
“We all just want you to be safe, Tori, you can’t be mad at us for that.” He explained and I felt my body and face soften. Dean was right, and as if to prove his point, he bent down to grab and open one of the beers I’d brought up. He took a sip and then held out a hand to me. I took it and he pulled me up to a sitting position, then he handed me the other beer, opening it as he did. 

“Now, on another matter,” Dean said, pausing to take a sip just as I did the same. “If you and Sam want to keep this next step of your relationship a secret, I suggest you guys at least restrain yourselves from intimate lip touching in the openness of the kitchen and from playing footsie under the dinner table while making goo-goo eyes at each other.” Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows at me and taking another sip of beer. I turned to look at Sam to see him shrug and I couldn’t stop from bursting out laughing. Eventually Sam joined in and so did Dean. I gave my beer to Sam for him to hold and I wrapped my arms around Dean’s shoulders, hugging him.   
“Thanks, Dean.” I whispered.   
“Yeah, yeah.” Dean answered, patting my forearm. “Can’t think of a better girl to be with my pain in the ass little brother.” He finished with his green eyes looking into mine. I kissed his cheek after his comment as my own cheeks blushed. “But,” he started again, pointing a finger at me and then Sam. “This isn’t getting in the way of work, I’m sorry, but Ian would never stand up to let you go on your own and I don’t exactly want to let Sam go either. We’re also not driving across state just so you guys can have date night every once in a while and—” I put my fingers over his lips, shushing him.   
“We know. This doesn’t change anything, we just… we just couldn’t ignore what was already there.” I tried to explain, Dean looked at me, evaluating my words.   
“Alright.” Dean decided, trusting me. He got up then and walked out of the room, taking his beer with him. I turned back to Sam taking the beer back after he took a sip.  
“This doesn’t change anything, right?” I asked Sam. “Cause he’s right. We can’t stop or change anything about our lives so we can only see each other when we happen to both be in the same place. We’ll see each other when we see each other, just like it’s always been.” I said, shrugging. “Only now I’ll kiss you when we do.” I said, leaning forward to plant a quick peck to his lips. Sam nodded, knowing all too well that this was the only way it could work. I looked down to my hands, thinking about what had just been agreed on.   
“Sam.” I said softly, not taking my eyes off my own hands and the beer that they held.   
“Yeah?” Sam asked, concern lining his voice from the way I’d said his name.   
“With our lifestyle I’d…I’d never expect you to be with me and only me.” I said hesitantly.   
“What?” Sam asked, not understanding what I was saying.  
“Like I’m saying that sometimes it’s months before we see each other, and our situation isn’t a normal one. So I guess what I’m saying is that, if there’s ever someone else…I’d understand.” I said. I would never expect Sam to reserve his lips for only me, and I sure as heck couldn’t expect him to wait for me to sleep with him. At this point, after learning about being the daughter of Athena, I was afraid of losing my visions by sleeping with someone. Afraid that doing such a thing would go against one of the most important things Athena stood for and that I’d have repercussions if I did.   
“Wait, what? No!” Sam said, understanding my reasoning and wrapped his hands around mine. “I’d never! I don’t want anyone else. Why would you even say that?” Sam asked, pulling my chin up when I didn’t look at him, forcing me to look at him. I wouldn’t meet his eyes though, looking at his nose or mouth instead.   
“Tori, will you look at me, please?” Sam said, his tone becoming a little softer than before. He waited but I still didn’t oblige. “Victoria.” Sam said, softly but sternly, using my full first name. I couldn’t help but look when he said ‘Victoria’ because it was so seldom used, it became the natural reaction. His grassy eyes bore into mine, holding them. “Why?” Sam asked again.   
“Well we said this doesn’t change anything. I know Dean does it all the time and I’m sure you have too, so I’m not about to restrict you from being with someone when I’m on the other side of the country. It’s the only thing that’s going to work if we’re going to do this. Everyone needs some once in a while, I know that enough from my brothers. And I can’t give you that, not now and obviously not when we’re apart.” I said all in a huff only taking one small pause for a breath.   
“You’re telling me to sleep with other people?” Sam said, a smile tugging at his lips, he was laughing at me.   
“Well yeah, if the opportunity arises.” I said, taking my eyes away from his. “Because I don’t think I ever can.” I whispered, ashamed of myself slightly. Sam actually started laughing a bit, his mouth pulling to an actual smile and his shoulders shaking.   
“Why are you laughing?” I said frowning. Sam took the beer from my hands and put it on the table beside the bed and pulled my whole body towards him, wrapping his arms around me.   
“Only you would say that, Tori.” Sam said, laughter still in his voice.   
“What? I understand people have urges, and Sam,” I said turning in his arms to look him in the eyes. “I can’t do that for you. I don’t know but I feel like this whole Athena thing, I have to follow in her virgin footsteps or I think I’ll lose my abilities and I’ll have to face the wrath of a warrior Goddess.” I confessed. Sam just looked blankly at me and then squeezed me tighter.   
“I’m not saying I’m going to do what you say, but I understand what you’re saying about Athena. Tori, I’d never want you to feel like you have any sort of obligation to do anything for me. I respect your choices and reasoning and I’ll never care about you any less. Yes, our situation is different than everyone else’s, but we’ll live from day to day and see where the universe takes us. Hey, maybe you’ll get tired one day and decide to move on, I’ll understand and I’ll be happy for you. Whatever makes you happy makes me happy. Okay?” Sam said, finishing with a kiss on the top of my head. I just nodded then buried my face in his neck.   
“Now, do you want to go meet this hunter?” Sam asked, changing the subject.   
“No, I just want to stay here.” I sighed into his neck. Sam responded by settling back against the wall, pulling me with him and holding me tight.


	21. Chapter 21

— Ian —

As soon as Bobby recognized the hunter in the jeep, I felt like an idiot. We watched as the hunter walked over the devils trap under the rug and how his face kept a friendly smile as we shook his hand, my hand having holy water on it. He passed all the other tests too and we knew he was human and just an old acquaintance to Bobby’s. I felt like even more of an idiot after that. I knew I’d over reacted by sending Tori upstairs. If I didn’t know it before, I definitely knew it now. Tori could take care of herself. But I wasn’t about to stop looking after her. I was her big brother, I couldn’t stop doing something I’d been doing since she was born. I rubbed my face as Bobby and the man, Rick, joked about an old case and wandered into the next room looking for a lore book that might help him. Dean saw my reaction and knew all too well how I was feeling. He clasped a hand on my shoulder and gave an encouraging smile.  
“We all know you have good intentions, Ian. Tori sure as hell knows it too. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I probably would have done the same thing if I hadn’t just spent a whole week with her.” Dean said, his fingers squeezing and then letting go. “She’s tough, she can take a lot. I’m not telling you to stop being a big brother, god knows I’d never be able to stop being one, but I guess what I’m saying is, those plastic kid doors can unblock the stairs now. Tori knows how to climb them.” I sighed and returned Dean’s smile.   
“I’ll go tell Sam and Tori that everything’s fine.” Dean said and then he was gone up the stairs. 

I flopped down onto the couch and decided to occupy myself with looking for another case. If I couldn’t hide Tori, then I had no choice but to try and save other people, because I knew Tori wouldn’t want it any other way. Dean came back down the stairs and grabbed his own laptop. Sitting down on the armchair beside me he kicked his feet up and began his own search for another case. A few minutes later my sister and Sam emerged from upstairs and Sam continued on into the kitchen. Tori sank down onto the couch next to me. She was close enough that her leg and arm touched mine even though there was an ample amount of room on the couch for her to not have to touch me. Tori’s proximity to people was part of who she was. She hated being alone and would reach out and touch people without thought. It reminded me of Mom. Mom always pulled us closer to her while sitting somewhere or would touch our heads as we walked by, back when we were short enough for her to do so. Mom and Tori gravitated towards people, they both had the need to be close. It didn’t have to be lots of contact, sometimes it was just a socked toe touching a leg or a brief finger to shoulder as they walked by. Tori had done it for as long as I could remember and would cry when she was a baby and we left her in a room by herself. Just after Mom had died and Tori kept reaching out to touch us just as she always had was hard at first. Tori reminded me so much of Mom that it hurt. As comforting as her touches were, sometimes they just made me miss Mom even more. Tori’s leg and arm touching mine right now, however, was perfect. I was super overprotective of her, but she never shied away from me. She never shied away from anyone. If she fought with anyone, she stayed to resolve the problem then be right back to loving them more than they deserved in the moment. Which was why her outburst yesterday was so strange. But how could I blame her? She’d just learned she was the daughter of a Goddess we didn’t even think existed. I tried not to worry when Dean showed me her note, because in that moment I knew Tori needed a drive in her car. Neither of us was capable in comforting her in her situation. We couldn’t relate, so her best bet was spending time with the one thing that was truly hers, the Chevelle. When she came back I could tell she’d come to terms with the situation and she was back to normal, I could relax a little bit. But every so often the thought came back to me. Mom’s voice telling me that Tori was in danger, that someone sought out her power. 

“Sparks, Nevada.” Tori said, her warmth coming closer as she leaned towards me.   
“Huh?” I asked, wondering if I’d missed a comment while in my reverie.   
“Sparks, Nevada. That’s our next case.” Tori explained easily, playing with the end of her braid. She didn’t have a computer or a newspaper in front of her, so I just looked at her blankly.   
“Just saw it.” She said, tapping her temple. “Look up their local paper, second page, bottom left corner.” She finished by resting her head on my shoulder, her eyes watching as my fingers hesitated over the keys.   
“Is that how you’ve found cases before? By seeing the future?” Dean asked, looking up at her, his eyebrows furrowed. Tori sighed and picked her head back up, crossing her legs.   
“Yes and No.” She said, looking up as she saw Sam come back into the room, an interested look on his face. He must have heard Dean’s question from the kitchen. “It’s kind of hard to explain. My visions or whatever we want to call them are all over the place. Sometimes I only see something seconds before it happens. Like a deer on the road. Other times I’ll see it days before it happens, like the time the toaster broke and burnt West’s toast, making the house smell for days. Sometimes I can change the outcome, sometimes I can’t. For example, the deer on the road. I might see us hitting it with the car, but I can tell whoever the driver is to serve and then we won’t hit it. Other times I’ll see that toaster braking but even if I make sure West has cereal that day, he somehow ends up still putting a piece of bread in.” she finished.   
“Wait, so does that mean you saw my head get chopped off in the booby trapped shed?” I asked thinking back. Tori scratched her head, uncomfortable.   
“Ah, yeah.” She said. I turned to look at her better.   
“And you didn’t know if you’d be able to stop it?” I asked surprised.   
“What? No, I knew I could change it.” She spun her charm bracelet around her wrist. “Like I said, it’s hard to explain. It’s weird. When I see the vision, something just tells me if I can change it or not. I just get a feeling, like something is warning me, telling me it can happen but I can change it. At first I didn’t understand it and tried changing things, but eventually I learned the feeling that came with something that had to happen.” She finished by taking the laptop from me, determined to find the article she had seen in her vision.   
“Oh, just realized that doesn’t answer your question, Dean.” Tori said looking back up from the screen. “Yes, sometimes I find a case by seeing it before I or someone else finds it. I’ll see a newspaper clipping or a town sign, sometimes I see the creature we’re going to hunt but don’t know where to find it. There was a couple of times when I came across some lore and had a vision of a case involving the thing I was reading about, but it doesn’t happen for months.” She explained as best she could. Dean scratched his head, trying to understand it all. When Tori’s eyes swept between me and Dean and a smile crept across her face I realized I was scratching my head just like Dean.   
“Are you always present in your visions?” Sam piped up, causing our three heads to turn in his direction. Tori’s face grew red with embarrassment, I looked at Dean and we both had the same expression, why was she embarrassed? Tori laughed nervously.   
“No, I’m not always in the visions…Sometimes I see things that happen no where near me, but then I’ll hear a story or something later and know it happened, it always happens unless I change it. If I’m not in the vision though, it’s always revolved around someone I know.” Tori said, touching the charms on her bracelet again.  
“So what have you seen that you weren’t present in?” Dean asked frowning again, knowing Dean, there were a few things he didn’t want anyone to know. Tori’s face grew redder at his question.   
“Okay, so just so you all know, I can’t control the visions, and I can’t shut them out and I can’t — oh god, West sit down please.” Tori said, making our heads turn to find West standing in the doorway, he sat down beside Tori. She took a deep breath and kept going. “And it’s really only snip-its most of the time, and—” She was interrupted.   
“Spit it out Tori, what have you seen?” Dean said seriously.   
“Um… lot’s, I don’t know, where do I even begin. Ah, Cassie seemed nice.” Tori blurted out, looking towards Dean. Dean’s eyebrows shot up and he leaned back in his chair.   
“Cassie? Oh Cassie.” Sam said. I looked at Tori questioningly but she waved a hand saying it was irrelevant.   
“Wait, how much of Cassie did you see?” Dean asked, leaning forward in his seat again. Tori’s face turned another shade of red, but didn’t answer him.   
“Awesome.” Dean said sarcastically. All eyes looked at Tori though, curious to see what private things she knew about each of us.   
“Sorry, I’d control it if I could, shut out things I shouldn’t see, but I can’t. Please don’t hate me for it, all of your secrets are safe with me.” Tori said, meeting each of our eyes in turn and crossing her heart. West just started to laugh.  
“It would be our little sister to find out all of the dirty little secrets.” West said through his laughter.   
“What are you laughing at? I’m sure she has dirt on you too.” I said. West shrugged.   
“I don’t have anything to hide.” West said.   
“You mean you don’t mind if I tell everyone about Roseburg, Oregon?” Tori said smiling. West’s face dropped, the smile quickly fading from his face.   
“Oh my…” West said and we all burst out laughing, apparently West really did have something to hide.   
“I think… I think the longer visions I have you guys when I’m not around is when there are some really strong emotions…” Tori said after everyone’s laughter had died out. “But I don’t know why that would be.” I could tell that it bothered her, not knowing, her fingers stroking the computer keys but not pressing the buttons because she knew the answer couldn’t be found in on the Internet. Taking a deep breath she typed in Sparks, Nevada and pulled up the local newspaper website. Scrolling through, she found what she was looking for and slid the computer back onto my lap, pointing at the screen.   
“We’ll leave tomorrow morning.” Tori said, patted my knee and got up from the couch. She made her way towards the back door, resting a hand briefly on Sam’s shoulder as she walked by. For what seemed like the hundredth time these past two days, Tori needed to be left alone with her thoughts. 

 

—Dean—

When there are some really strong emotions.   
Tori’s words ran around in my head, I wondered what else she had seen about me, and what she had seen that was still to come. So many things were falling into place. All those times Tori had silently comforted me with a random hug or a distraction had been because she probably knew what had happened. She never pried to talk about it because she already knew, and she knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t even want to talk about it if she asked. Suddenly the knowledge of Tori knowing things I’d never tell her was okay. The thought of her being there afterwards… after who knows what she’d seen and still be there for me was more then I could ever ask for. 

Sam was telling me about the case he found but I wasn’t listening. My mind full of Tori and a little bit of Cassie, whom Tori had reminded me of.   
“Sure, we’ll leave in the morning.” I said when I didn’t hear Sam talking anymore.   
“What? I asked what your opinion on it was.” Sam said, but I wasn’t really listening again as I stood up and made my way to the back door. Pushing the door open I made my way to where I knew Tori would be. 

Sometimes I just had to shake my head at some of the habits Tori had in common with me. Ever since she asked me to help her with the Chevelle and spent lots of time together, I began to notice more things about her. Every time she was mad or confused or just lost in her thoughts, there she was, working on her car, just like I did. There could be nothing wrong with the car, but she would be there, polishing, vacuuming, tightening or changing whatever could use a little bit of attention. We’d often find each other with our cars parked together next to the shed. Throwing tools around after a rough hunt, searching for mindless handwork to cool down. There was comfort in those moments. Just being together, both with the same idea in mind, our cars. It would be the only time Tori wasn’t talking someone’s ear off, for a little while at least. Eventually, an hour of silence would pass and she would pipe up about another nice car she’d seen recently, noting what the owner did with it that she liked and what she thought was a flaw. Her talk and the work would distract me from what I was mad about and eventually I’d forget all about it. Those times often ended with Tori dancing and singing to a song on the radio, her arms reaching towards me to join her, although I never did. I’d just smile and laugh lightly while watching her imitate the singer and the song would end with Tori putting a hand to her stomach. “I’m hungry,” she’d say and I’d laugh, seconding her comment and tipping my head towards the house, then we’d walk into the house in search of food. 

As I walked to the back this time I found Tori on a wheeled board under her car, which was jacked up. Her hand reached out to grab a plastic container and place it under the car and I heard the oil spew out. Rolling out from under the car, she acknowledged my presence but didn’t say anything, as was the rule, one hour of silence. She bustled about, grabbing the new bottle of oil and other tools she needed and I peeked under the hood. I checked over areas, making sure all was well and smiled when I found that it was. She’d even polished the motor as if it was part of a car show. Making my way around the car, I checked for dings or scratches and kicked the tires. The car was flawless.   
“It’s still perfect Tori, not even a scratch.” I said, breaking the one-hour rule. Tori joined me at the front end and nudged her shoulder into mine.   
“Well, I happen to know someone who’s a great teacher, he taught me everything I know.” She said, looking up with a smile, her grey eyes light, like a cloudy winter sky. Warmth spread through me and I smiled back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.   
“Oh yeah? And who might that be?” I said, teasing. She poked a finger into my rib cage and then wrapped her arm around my back, which reminded me.   
“How’s your cut?” I asked, gesturing towards her injured side.   
“Sam took the stitches out last night,” she started as she lifted her shirt up and peeled back the Band-Aid to reveal… nothing. There was no longer a cut, just a dark pink jagged line. “Oh,” Tori said and peeled the rest of the Band-Aid off, crumpling it up and tossing it into a garbage bin.   
“Oh my god.” I said, unable to contain my surprise. I instinctively reached out to touch the scar, as if I needed to make sure it was really there.   
“Told you I was a fast healer.” Tori said, shrugging her shoulders.   
“Yeah, but that’s really fast.” I said, taking one last look at the pink line before Tori dropped her shirt back down.   
“I guess it’s the whole ‘Athena is my half Mom’ thing.” Tori said, scratching her eyebrow nervously. Her eyes met mine again; the grey irises convinced me that I had no doubts about her situation. I blew air from puffed cheeks and hmm-ed. “Also, Ian and West know nothing about it, and they’re not going to learn about it either.” She said, a light threat lining her words. I raised my hands in surrender but then furrowed my eyebrows.   
“How often do you do that to them?” I asked, letting my hands drop and slap my thighs.   
“Not tell them about injuries?” she asked and I nodded. “Often enough,” she shrugged again. “If they can’t see it, and if I can hide the blood before they can, I don’t tell them.” She laughed softly, recalling something. “One time I got a huge piece of glass in my thigh right here,” she pointed to a spot on her leg. “And I was able to cover it with my jacket tied around my waist. That one was bloody, but they never found out, I was too covered in the werewolf’s blood for them to tell.” She smiled sneakily, proud of herself.   
“Tori.” I sighed, shaking my head.   
“What?” She said, “My brothers don’t need more things to worry about. Besides, I heal so fast that it’s not even worth the drama. I tell them about the big ones when I need help.” she explained. “They also don’t need to know about cuts that have healed already.” She said, gesturing to her fresh scar. I put my hand on her head, ruffling her hair.   
“Just promise me you won’t misjudge the ones where you think you don’t need help.” I said and she poked me in the side again, laughing lightly.   
“Of course, Dean. I promise.” She said, her grey eyes turning a darker, more serious shade. 

“Now on another matter, what have you all seen in your visions again?” I asked. Tori’s face grew red and she dropped back down onto the wheeled board and wheeled under the car, covering her face and most of her torso.   
“Dean,” she sighed, slightly irritated. “Talking about it, isn’t going to change what I know, nor is it going to stop what I’m going to see.” Her tone was weary and I knew I’d asked too soon. She had too many other things to worry about before worrying about how I would react to what she knew. I heard her tightening a bolt and sigh again as she threw the wrench out from under the car and onto the shed’s cement floor.   
“If it makes you feel any better, the majority of the visions are of you and Sam on a hunt. Sam gets hurt and you worry about him, finding any way to take his pain away as soon as possible. The majority of the time, I hear the story about that hunt the next time I see or talk on the phone with you or Sam. Sometimes it’s a snip-it of you and Sam arguing in the car or a motel room, but I don’t need to be psychic to know what you were arguing about the next time I hear from you. I know you and Sam too well, I know your relationship with your father and how Sam’s is much more different then that. I know that from just being observant and listening to you babble about it when you’re drinking. The walls in Bobby’s house are thin. I hear things.” She explained, but remained under the car. I bent down and wheeled her out from under the car. She sighed again and rubbed a hand over her face. “Yes, sometimes there’s women, sometimes I see you punch a wall or— Dean, I think you like burgers too much. Because I swear to god I’ve seen a vision of you just seriously enjoying a burger.” Tori said, her tone lightening from stress to laughter. “I saw that time Sam took you to that healer with a reaper on his leash.” Tori said, her previous laughter gone, her face falling again and her lips pressed into a thin line. “What I don’t understand, though, is why I didn’t see Jess’s death coming. That was the hardest thing to happen to Sam since I’d met him.” Tori’s voice faded, pained. I was about to comment, but Tori’s brain was already in a train of thought and her lips kept pouring out words. “Come to think of it, I’ve been having a lot more visions lately. They used to just be really small things, like a second or two long, but for about a year now they’ve been getting longer. I mean the small ones still happen, like seeing the jeopardy question before he asks it—”  
“I knew it!” I interrupted, thinking back to listening to her answering some of the questions before they appeared. “Do you cheat? Do you see the answer in the visions too?” I asked, not passing up to opportunity to catch her red-handed. I was rewarded with a laugh from Tori, the happy sound perking my ears, happy to have distracted her for a few seconds.   
“Sometimes I see the answer, but I actually know the answer most of the time, vision or not.” She laughed again. “I’m just really good at jeopardy, I like facts.” She looked up at me from her spot on the wheeled board, still lying on her back. She seemed lost in thought for a second and then her eyes focused on me.   
“If you really want to know if I know something specific about you, just ask.” Tori said. “But it won’t change anything.” She finished, her hands pushing her back under the car. I flipped over an empty crate and sat on it.   
“Well considering you’ve gone this long knowing things we thought you didn’t and not saying anything, not even to the person it was about, I’m okay with it, because you’re right, it doesn’t change anything. Plus, I know you keep your secrets and promises.” I said, leaning back against the car. Tori finished what she was doing and rolled back out.   
“Damn straight I do and just in case you were worried,” She said, sitting up and placing a hand on my knee, a grease spot on two of her knuckles. “No matter what I see, I could never love you any less, I know you far too well and I know you don’t do anything without reason.” She finished, squeezing my knee lightly. I wondered again about what she’d seen, but quickly pushed the thought aside, nothing I could do about it anyways.

Tori finished her oil change and put away the tools, all the while trying to describe the burger she saw me enjoy in her vision, trying to help me remember where I’d eaten it.   
“Because, let’s be real. If you loved a burger that much, I need to find that place and eat one.” Tori said, leaning against the car beside me. I tried going through the diners I’d eaten at recently but quickly gave up, I ate at a new diner daily, there was no way of keeping track. We didn’t say anything for minute or two until all of a sudden Tori spoke.  
“When’s the last time you changed your timing belt?” She asked, nodding towards Baby, parked a little ways away.   
“I don’t know, why?” I asked, looking at my car.   
“Because it’ll break in the middle of nowhere while on the road tomorrow.” Tori said, already walking into the shed to find a new belt.   
“Did you just…?” I asked, wondering if she had a vision.   
“Yeah, just saw it, you have no idea how nice it is to say it so literally instead of trying to come up with a casual way to change it.” Tori said, coming back with a new belt in hand.   
“How come you never said it then? How come you didn’t just tell us?” I asked, worried that I hadn’t been there enough for her to be comfortable enough to tell me.   
“To be honest, I’m kind of scared of it. Like why me?” Tori said, her arms crossing over her chest. “I didn’t want to say anything to you guys because I don’t understand it. I never know when it’s going to happen and the longer ones are so private to some of you that I would never be able to bring myself to talk about it.” She wrapped her arms closer around herself, as if trying to shrink herself into nothing. “And I hate it. Sure, there’s times where I can save a life and that’s great but I hate invading people’s privacy. That’s why I don’t push about anything because I feel like these visions have pushed much further than I deserve to know.” She spoke quicker and her voice became pained, her eyes not meeting mine, ashamed. I knew Tori never cried, but this was the closest she’d ever come to it and I wasn’t sure if I knew what to do about it. Tori was having the most emotional rollercoaster of a week and I had never seen her this way. I felt guilty knowing she’d comforted me hundreds of times and I didn’t even know how to return the favor once. “I don’t mind knowing but I just wish it was you or Sam or my brothers who told me themselves not some supernatural psychic crap. I hate it, Dean. I’m so sorry. I ha—” I interrupted her by pulling her towards me and hugging her tight. At first she shook a little under my arms, anger, frustration and sadness taking control. But eventually her arms came around me, squeezing tight back. Her face was buried in my shirt and I put a hand to the back of her head, my other arm holding her even tighter then she was without crushing her.

Her shaking subsided as I rubbed her back but I wasn’t satisfied that she was all right just yet. So as her arms started loosening I shook my head.   
“Nope, you’re not ready yet.” I said and that pulled a grateful sigh from her and she tightened her arms around me again. “You have nothing to be sorry about, it’s not your fault.” She loosened her arms to look into my eyes.   
“Dean, I—” she started but I stopped her again.   
“Shh, no listen to me, listen. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault. You’ve done nothing wrong. Everyone is over knowing that you know things because we know you and we know we can trust you.” I said, looking right into her eyes, the shades of grey changing from dark to light as she listened to my words. “Now, there’s nothing we can do with this but embrace it. You have a gift that can help you save people. You can see cases coming before they do. Think of how many people you’ve saved from that alone! Hell, you saved your own brothers life just by telling him about the trap in that shed. Look,” I said picking up the timing belt from the gravel where she’d dropped it. “Just telling me about this is going to save me hours of walking in the hot sun to the next gas station to buy a new belt tomorrow. Tori, think of how many random things you’ve changed to make life easier for us. Being a hunter is a tough life, and it’s the little things that count, so if small things like telling me that my gun is jammed before I need to shoot are going to make mine and everyone else’s lives a little bit easier, my god, that’s worth more than all the dirty little secrets in the world.” When I finished, Tori just stared at me wide eyed for a few seconds. Then she crashed into me, wrapping her arms around my neck in another hug. My arms came around her again and I felt her finally starting to relax.   
“Thanks Dean.” She whispered and I kissed her temple.   
“You ever have doubts about anything, Tori, call me. You shouldn’t have to bare all of our secrets and your own. We all want to help the load. So if you need anything, and I shouldn’t have to say this because you should already know, but if you need anything, call me.” I said, giving her one last squeeze before letting her go. “Now,” I said, lightening my tone considerably. “You’re going to help me change the belt in Baby and then we’re going to go inside the house, Sam’s going to make you a hot chocolate just the way he knows you like it and then we’re going to watch Bugs Bunny on TV.” I said, pulling her towards Baby.   
“Bugs Bunny?” Tori laughed questionably.   
“I swear the show gets funnier the older you get.” I said and was rewarded with another laugh.


End file.
